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Hekry B. H. B ea r eoy, F. K.S

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SKETCHES

VESUVIUS,

WITH

SHORT ACCOUNTS OF ITS PRINCIPAL

eruptions;

FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE CHRISTIAN ERA TO
THE PRESENT TIME.

“ — a hill — whose grisly top
“ Belched fire and rolling smoke ; the rest entire
“ Shone with a glossy scurf.”

JOHN AULDJO, ESQ. F.G.S.

CORRESP. MEMBER OF THE SOC. REAL BORBON, AND OF
THE SOC. PONTANIANA, NAPLES.

LONDON:

miNTED FOR

LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, GREEN, & LONGMAN,

PATERNOSTER-ROW.

1833.

historical j

MEDICAL

London :

Printed by A. & It. Spottiswoode,
New- Street- Square.

HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS

CHARLES, PRINCE OF CAPUA,

ETC. ETC. ETC.

THESE SKETCHES

ARE,

BY GRACIOUS PERMISSION,

RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED,

HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS'S

MOST OBEDIENT

HUMBLE SERVANT,

JOHN AULDJO.

A 2

Naples, May 1. 1832.

PREFACE.

In publishing the following pages, I do not
pretend to offer original matter ; but merely
an abstract of a great deal that has been
written about Vesuvius ; and if I should ex-
cite in travellers, who may visit that cele-
brated Volcano, an interest in its historic and
topographic details, and prepare them to
receive and bear away impressions that may
be instructive and lasting, I shall have ob-
tained the object I have principally had in

view.

LIST OF PLATES.

I. Vesuvius from the Sea, to face Title.

. 2. Beds of Lava in the Fosso Grande - Page 6

t 3. The Hermitage - - - - 7

4. The Cone of Vesuvius - - - - - 8

y 5. View of Naples, from the Atrio del Cavallo - 10

6. The Crater of Vesuvius on the 18th Sept. 1831 - 11

, 7. Ruins of a minor Cone - - - 12

8. The small Cone from the S.E. - - 15

9. Lava running over the S.E. Edge of the Crater - 16

10. Lava on a Level with the S.E. Edge - - id.

11. Streams of Lava on the exterior of the Cone - 17

12. A Channel through which Lava ran - - 18

13. Map ... . - - 27

14. Vesuvius, on the Night of the 27th February, 1832 - 85

Appendix.

15. The Front of the Streams of Lava, 26th Dec., 1831 92

, 16. The Crater of Vesuvius on the 23d Feb., 1832 - 93

17. A Grotto in the Lava - - - - 95

VESUVIUS.

“ I climb a hill of ashes at whose top
A gorge descending leads into thy home,

Great fire ! where, ’mid thy swarthy realms sublime.
Under a canopy of surging clouds,

On thy red throne exalted, terrible,

Thou art sole master ; and supreme hast been
For ages, unopposed.”

Among the enchanting features of the far-famed
scenery around the Bay of Naples, the favoured
region of poets, none is more attractive than Ve-
suvius, “ the burning mountain,” which has allured
the curious and learned in all ages, and from all
countries.

This mountain has two summits : they are the
present cone of Vesuvius, and the Monte Somma.
They stand on a common base, bounded on the
north and east by the plain of the Terra di
Lavoro, which separates it from the Appenines ;
on the south it is washed by the sea; and on
the west it may be said to unite with part of the
acclivity on which Naples is built. In fact, the
division between the extreme western slope of the
Somma, and the eastern end of the hill called

SKETCHES OF VESUVIUS.

Poggio Reale of Naples, is so small, that it can
scarcely be considered as a physical separation.

The ridge of the Somma forms a semicircle, the
curve of which lies north-east, its two extremities
stretching out south-west ; and it is a curious
fact, ascertained by Visconti, that the diameter
drawn from its western point, near the Hermitage,
to its eastern termination above Mauro, passes
exactly through the centre of the present crater.
The front of the Somma, which faces the south-
west and the cone of Vesuvius, is almost perpen-
dicular; but the side towards the north is a sloping
plain, cut, lengthwise, by deep ravines, and covered
with vineyards ; except a few hundred feet near
the summit, which are clothed with small chesnut
and oak trees.

A narrow valley (called the Atrio del Cavallo on
the west, and the Canale dell’ Arena on the north,)
divides Somma from the cone of Vesuvius. The
lava, which sometimes flows from the north side of
the cone, the scoria and ashes that are ejected or are
washed down from it into this valley, raise the
level, and probably will some day fill it up ; and
then that side of the cone, united with the ridge
of the Somma, will become part of the flank of the
mountain.

The cone of Vesuvius, in appearance a mass of
ashes, is truncated from n.e. to s.w. and rests,

SKETCHES OF VESUVIUS.

on the north-west, upon the Atrio del Cavallo ; on
the north-east, upon the Canale dell’ Arena ; and
towards the south, upon the Pedementina, ex-
tending its flank down to the sea, and forming an
inclined plane from its vertex to its base. The
slope, from the Pedementa and the Atrio del Ca-
vallo, is regular, and is covered with vineyards
and gardens : it is broken only by the Vocoli, or
small cones formed during the eruption of I76O,
by the picturesque hill on which the convent of
the Camaldoli is built, and by prominences raised
on the lava of the eruption of 1794, near the
Piano delle Ginestre. On the north-west side,
it is cut by two large ravines, separated from each
other by the ridge of the Canteroni, on the summit
of which is situated the hermitage of Saint Janua-
rius, or San Salvatore. The ravine, on the north,
is the Fosso Faraone, running n.w. and s.e. ; that
on the south is the Fosso Grande, of which the
direction is west and east. The lower parts of the
mountain are studded with towns, villages, and
palaces, that rise among vineyards and gardens,
the property of men who forget their danger while
seeking to derive wealth from the fertility of its
soil, though there has not been a period of a hun-
dred years, in which some part of the lands around
the base of Vesuvius has not been ruined by
earthquakes, destroyed by currents of lava, or

b 2

SKETCHES OF VESUVIUS.

covered with ashes. But what is there with which
man will not familiarise himself? The eruption
over, the inhabitants return to build their houses
on the same spot where terrible experience ought
to have made them dread the risk of being buried
by some future eruption. *

The town of llesina is the place from which
those who visit the crater are commonly conducted
to its summit, and the usual route from that town
leads, very nearly in a straight line, towards the
north side of the cone, until it reaches the Piano
delle Ginestre, where it turns off to the left.

The “ Piano,” once adorned with evergreen
shrubs, bushes, and broom, flowering throughout
the year, and wearing the semblance of eternal
spring, now presents only a desolate expanse,
wherein nothing is seen but the scorious surfaces
of vast streams of lava, which, in pouring down
from the cone, have intersected and covered each
other, have been heaped up in confused masses
and hillocks, or extended in broad and irregular
ridges.

The time occupied in getting hither, is about
an hour, and the road, passing between vineyards
protected by stone walls or mud banks ( amacera ),
is wholly uninteresting, except at a few spots

* For much of this description of Vesuvius, I am indebted to
Breislak. (Topografia Fisica della Campania. Cap. iv. 7.)

SKETCHES OF VESUVIUS.

where one obtains some beautiful glimpses of Na-
ples and the intervening country, through breaks
in the foliage of the thickly planted vines.

I have generally preferred, and I strongly advise
others, to make the ascent in the direction of the
Fosso Grande, by a road that joins the one already
described on the Piano above mentioned, imme-
diately before it arrives at the great ridge or hill of
the Canteroni. This course lengthens the time
required for the ascent by about half an hour, but
the path is less difficult and steep, and is, in every
respect, better than the other, except a few yards
of the latter part of it, which must be performed
on foot. It has the great advantage of a con-
stant change of scenery, and, at the same time,
it exhibits a section of the mountain that lays its
structure open to the view, which cannot fail
to afford both pleasure and instruction even to
unscientific admirers of Nature.

At a short distance from Resina, this second
route turns off, to the left, from the line of the
first, and, passing between vineyards and orchards,
the trees of which generally extend their boughs
over the pathway, making in many places a shady
avenue, reaches some streams of lava which came
down, through the Fosso Grande, and ran to
St. Jorio, in 1767* It crosses these close to the
small chapel of St. Vito, built near the site of

SKETCHES OF VESUVIUS.

another that was destroyed by one branch of the
lava of the above-mentioned eruption, and it is
again continued under the shade of large trees,
until it comes upon the principal stream of 1767 :
proceeding then .between its two walls or ridges,
of which it follows the direction, it soon enters the
Fosso Grande, where it approaches a small cliff of
old lava, almost concealed by the wild fig-tree, by
ivy and various beautiful evergreens, that hang
about it.

At some distance forward, a bold precipice of
tufo and lapillo rises on the left hand, and from
the base of it a gentle slope, covered with vines,
extends to the road. On the right, various su-
perincumbent beds of ancient lava, with narrow
intervening strata of sand, present a perpendicular
front, the brow of which is clothed with trees and
shrubs.

Such is the precipice of lava represented in the
accompanying sketch ; which, though the most
picturesque, is not the highest part of the line of
precipices that compose the right bank of the
Fosso, throughout its whole length.

The path leads, next, to a very steep ascent
over the hard surface of an old stream of lava. A
few minutes suffice to climb it, when the view
suddenly opens : the whole plain of the Ginestre
appears, with the black cone rising at its further

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SKETCHES OF VESUVIUS.

end; and the eye which, not many moments
before, dwelt with interest on the effect of ancient
eruptions, now regards with astonishment the work
of desolation, produced by those of recent occur-
rence.

The route here unites with the common one,
quits the lava, and ascends towards the Hermitage
through a winding cleft in the mass of' lapillo, of
which the ridge of the Canteroni is principally
formed. Before arriving at the upper part of it,
we have a magnificent prospect, which extends
over the great and richly wooded plain of the
Campo Felice, stretching one way as far as to the
sea, and another to the chain of the Appenines
behind Caserta.

The Hermitage of San Salvatore (St. Janua-
rius) is situated on a small, flat space at the
western extremity of the ridge of the Canteroni.
I have in vain endeavoured to ascertain at what
period it was erected ; but it was, probably, imme-
diately after the great eruption of 1631. The
building contains a chapel, and a few rooms for
the use of the monk or hermit who resides there
throughout the year ; and it also, of late, has been
used as a post for the police who protect it, as well
as the persons who ascend the cone.

Leaving the Hermitage to the left, the road lies
along the highest part of the ridge, at the end

SKETCHES OF VESUVIUS.

of whose verdant bank, the ashy cone rears itself
aloft, with white smoke rising in opaque masses
from its centre, and curling high into the air. On
one side the view extends over the wild, barren
field of lava ; and, on the other, is intercepted by
the termination of the Somma, covered with brush-
wood and small trees, and sloping into the Fosso
Faraone. A wooden cross has been erected at the
eastern extremity of the ridge, and once in the year,
as also in all great eruptions, the assistance of the
Patron Saint of Naples is here implored to protect
the Hermitage from the fury of the Volcano.

Below this point, in the Fosso to the left, once
existed the little chapel of La Vetrana, which was
destroyed by the eruption of 1786, when the lava
poured over a precipice of sixty feet, near the
building, in a cascade of liquid fire.

A short descent leads down to the Atrio del
Cavallo*, or plain of lava, and the road, winding

* The name of Atrio del Cavallo was given to all this part of
the mountain long before the 16th century ; because, “ in
those days, people always came thus far on horseback, and it
served as pasture ground for their horses, as until the year
1631 it produced herbage and trees.” Since that period it has
been so often covered with lava and ashes, that it has never
been capable of cultivation.

A plain surrounds the base of the cone, and that part of it
which bears the name of Atrio extends from the ridge of the
Canteroni, and the western end of Somma, to a point in a direct
line above the convent of Camaldoli. From this, to the eastern
extremity of Somma, it is called the Pedementina ; and thence

Drawn im Slone by

THE CONE OE VESUVIUS,

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SKETCHES OF VESUVIUS.

among rude unshapen masses, towards a spot at
the base of the cone, whence it is necessary to
climb, on foot, its steep sandy side, lies in a chan-
nel, between two streams of lava, the one on the
left having issued in the eruption of 1821, and
that on the right in 1822.

On the left, at a short distance from this spot,
are two small cones, the only remaining ones of
six that were thrown up in the eruption of 1821.
The greatest of these has been named after
Coutrel, an unfortunate French suicide, who, while
it was in a state of activity, threw himself into it,
on the 16th January in that year.

The view from this point is beautiful, the rough
dark foreground of the lava contrasting, in a sin-
gular manner, with the green bank of the Can-
teroni, the rich plain, and the deep blue sea far
beneath ; and, the sloping base of the mountain
being lost to the eye, they appear, particularly the
latter, to come in close under, as it were, to the foot
of an immense perpendicular cliff.

It takes something more than half an hour to
climb up the steep zig-zag path that leads to the
top of the cone ; and the greatest difficulty met
with in the ascent arises from the uncertain footing
which the ashes afford.

between Somma and the cone, until it joins the Atrio, it is
known by the name of the Canale dell’ Arena.

SKETCHES OF VESUVIUS.

On the summit a scene is presented which
almost baffles description. The field of* lava in the
interior of the crater, enclosed within a lofty and
irregular bank, might be likened to a lake, whose
agitated waves had been suddenly petrified ; and,
in many respects, it resembles the mers de glace ,
or level glaciers of Switzerland, although in its
origin and materials so very different. It is inter-
sected by numberless crevices, some deep and
wide, others long and shallow. Here one sees
masses curled and twisted like cables, there large
slabs piled up in various angles against each other ;
in one part, a wide table or platform ; in another,
a narrow stream, the ripples of which, in pushing
each other forward, have maintained their wavy
form for a great distance. In the sea of ice, the
white dazzling surface is relieved by beautiful
tints and various shades of blue and green ; in its
simulachre of stone, the bright yellow and red of
the compounds of sulphur and the metals, inter-
spersed with the pure white of the muriate of
soda, afford a pleasing contrast to the brown and
melancholy hue of the lava.

A small black cone, formed of scoria ejected
from its mouth, rises from the lava a little to the
north-east of the centre of the crater ; and from
a cavity in it, volumes of smoke roll up into the
air, sometimes accompanied by a cloud of small

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SKETCHES OF VESUVIUS.

fine sand, and, often, by showers of red-hot molten
lava, which, shot aloft, soon scatter and fall in all
directions ; a part in large masses like cannon
balls, a part in small perfect spheroids, or in
lumps that, striking on the lava, dash out into
long strings of scoria.

Two terraces of lava extend across the crater
from the southern side of the small cone, and upon
them several conical fumaroli, lately thrown up,
constantly ejected vapour which gushed forth with
a hissing noise. One of these had been rent asun-
der by some violent convulsion in the crater. One
half, which had fallen down, presented a confused
heap of lava in cubical blocks ; but the part that
remained standing exhibited a structure like that
of columnar basalt, and the whole was covered
with beautifid crystallisations of the salts of copper
and iron, in various shades of green.

The shortest way to get to that part of the
crater which is above Bosco Reale, the lowest
point of the circumference, is to proceed across
the lava ; yet the vapour of the sulphuric and
muriatic acids is sometimes so strong, that it can
be passed in safety only by hurrying over the spot
where it is evolved, and taking the precaution to
cover the mouth with a handkerchief.

Without venturing on the lava no idea can be
formed of the beautiful combinations of colours of

SKETCHES OF VESUVIUS.

the sulphur and metallic salts deposited during
the continual sublimation effected in that great
laboratory ; of the fantastic shapes into which the
lava is moulded in oozing out from the crevices
and mouths of its natural furnaces ; of the manner
in which the fumaroli are heaped up, and how the
vapour issues from them : in short, much that is
interesting, curious, and instructive, is only to be
seen by going to the centre, and by a close inspec-
tion of the crater, the more minute objects there
discovered being lost in the distant, though beauti-
ful view obtained from any part of the edge.

Until September, when the lava rose to its pre-
sent height, it was necessary to make the circuit
of half the cone to reach the lowest part already
described, that over Bosco Reale, the only point
whence it was possible to go down to the lava at
the bottom of the cavity ; and the descent was
accomplished by wading down a steep, narrow
slope of loose, hot ashes, into which the leg sank
up to the knee at every step, always causing an-
noyance, and often terror, to those who engaged
in the hazardous exploit of descending into the
crater. The depth at this part, in May 1830, was
seventy feet; by December following, it had de-
creased to fifty ; and, on the 1st of last September,
it was only ten.

The path to this point lies along the tortuous

f a- Small Cone near the centre oC the Crater

SKETCHES OF VESUVIUS.

and uneven edge which forms the summit of the
southern side of the cone, and, being neither diffi-
cult nor dangerous, is generally chosen in prefer-
ence to crossing the lava, particularly after dark.
The view from the highest peak is, perhaps, one
of the most beautiful in the world ; the height of
the mountain not being so great that the features
of the fairy land, over which the eye roves, are
either lost or too much diminished.

To the s. e. the island of Capri rises from the
bosom of the ocean, like a huge fortress protecting
the entrance of the bay. On turning to the left,
one sees the Appenines, embosoming Massa and
the orange-covered platform of Sorrento, extend
their dark line along the shore as far as CastelF
amare, over which towers St. Angelo, their highest
point. Thence, their lofty range, dividing the
valley of the Sarno from the bay of Salerno, runs
up into the country, until it makes a bend to the
left, and forms a distant semicircle round Vesuvius
and the plain of Nola, which spreads out between
them. Behind Caserta, these picturesque moun-
tains hide their heads in the clouds, though, at
times, their grey, and often snow-covered summits,
sparkling with the rays of the sun, are beautifully
defined through the clear atmosphere. Monte
Circello, and the hills about Gaeta, terminate the
line, again lost in the sea, but enclosing the

14 SKETCHES OF VESUVIUS.

luxuriant Campo Felice, with the numberless towns
scattered over its surface. The whole tract fenced
in by this line of mountains, and lying between
it and the sea, is of volcanic origin, and to it
the ancients gave the name of Campi Phlegraei.
The plain is perfectly level, till it reaches the
acclivity on which the city of Naples rises, terrace
above terrace, each built of palaces and churches,
thickly crowded together, and crowned by the
massive walls of the castle of St. Elmo. Behind
these is a semicircular hill, splendid and verdant,
whereon villas, gardens, and orange groves stand,
one above the other, in rich confusion. Farther
on, the Camaldoli, the promontory of Posilipo, and
the mountains behind the bay of Baia, raise their
heads and form a fine background to the city. To
the left of these, the high conical point of Ischia,
frowning over the island of Procida, and a long
line of blue sea close this extensive Panorama.

From the highest point on this side of the cra-
ter, the descent is rapid to the s. e., or lowest part,
where the lava flowed over on the morning of the
18th of September. The surface of the field of
lava within the crater, intersected, on that day, by
various streams of molten matter, presented a
beautiful and striking appearance. It was almost
impossible to approach close to the running lava,
on account of the intense heat ; but I succeeded

SKETCHES OF VESUVIUS.

in getting sufficiently near to one stream, and was
enabled to remain long enough to push a stick into
it, and ascertain its fluidity, which was like that of
glass, when taken out of the furnace.

One current had passed over the edge but had
cooled, after having thrown up a mass in lage flakes,
to the height of 15 feet, but so disposed, that it
appeared in regular steps of five feet each. Close
to the right of this mass, a wide stream approached
the edge, and threatened to run over ; hut that
also cooled. However, soon after, a third, nar-
rower, and more to the right of the others, flowed
rapidly towards that part of the circumference
where it begins to rise in the direction of the Palo,
and in running, heaped up a line of black scoria
on each side, as the ploughshare does the mould
through which it cuts. The accompanying sketches
show the appearance of this part of the crater,
about two o’clock in the afternoon of the 18th,
when the last stream had just attained the edge.

During the whole of the day the small cone was
in great activity, and the very large masses of lava
and scoria ejected from it, were thrown to a great
height. The smoke was very thick and dark, be-
ing loaded with fine black sand, which fell on the
Palo and that part of the cone in great quantity.

The inequality of the south side, and the ascent
to the Palo, the highest point of Vesuvius, is

H) SKETCHES OF VESUVIUS.

equally steep and fatiguing, whether made on this
side, or on the other. The view from it is not
finer, nor more extensive, than the one I have de-
scribed, and the only advantage it has is, that of
presenting more distinctly the Somma and the
Canale dell’ Arena, which latter is a flat semi-
circular plain, entirely covered with fine ashes,
and much resembling the bed of a lake, the waters
of which have been dried up.

On the evening of the 20th, three streams of
boiling lava, separated from each other by a line of
scoria, cooled into blocks and flakes, and closely
cemented together by lava, flowed down the ex-
terior of the cone. When it became dark, the
appearance of these currents was exceedingly cu-
rious, and in the accompanying sketch I have
endeavoured to represent their picturesque effect.
During the night a column of melted scoria, of a
bright red, was thrown from the small cone, every
half second, high into the air, accompanied by a
white smoke, tainted sometimes with a deep scarlet
colour, sometimes with delicate pink ; both caused
by the reflection of the fire within the crater.

On the 23d, the lava flowed out in several places
near the former streams, and uniting with them,
advanced to the foot of the great cone. It went
thence in an easterly direction across the Pedemen-
tina, but afterwards changed its course, turning to

Iia,v«v on a. level with the S E ed£e of the Crete

SKETCHES OF VESUVIUS.

the right, and, winding for a short distance round
tiie base, formed a smoking track on its south-
eastern side. Tiie whole line resembled fresh
mould piled up in masses, here in long strips,
there in small hillocks : smoke arose from the
whole; and occasionally a short line of red peeped
out from the dark, dull heap of scoria. Some of
these were remarkable : the lava, in flowing along,
had thrown up, on either side, a thin perpendicular
wall of scoria, and between the two banks passed
the stream which issued from under a perfect arch
formed by masses of scoria, and, having run twenty
or thirty feet, entered under another, and dis-
appeared among large heaps of the same matter.
Some idea may be formed of the singularity of
one of the channels, from tiie accompanying illus-
tration.

Satisfied with viewing the curious features of
the crater, it will be well to await the close of day,
ere one commences the descent ; and, if the weather
has been fine or if the atmosphere is clear, few
will quit the spot without beholding a picture of
surpassing splendour; for lovely indeed is the
prospect when the scenery, “ matchless in beauty,”
is illuminated by the rays of the setting sun, which
clothe it with lucid softness, or dazzling brilliancy.
Often, as the radiant orb gradually approaches the
horizon, and sinks into the sea, a dark mass of

SKETCHES OF VESUVIUS.

clouds descends over it, as it were a pall, which, for
a few moments, shrouds its departing glory ; but
soon, clouds and mountains, plains, trees, and
towns, in short every thing, becomes saturated
with dark orange tints, or the vivid ones of the
ruby, or those of the delicate rose ; the bright blue
sea, from reflected lustre, showing like a flood
of liquid gold, its burnished waves rippling beneath
the fluttering land-breeze which floats gently from
the shore, while, here and there, some boat or
speronaro, with fan-like sails, pursuing its solitary
course, casts a faint shadow, on the bright expanse.
Slowly, almost imperceptibly, the golden hue, the
roseate dye, fade away, and the veil of darkness,
with its leaden gloom, descends upon the scene.

Night closes in suddenly, so that torches are
necessary to light one downward ; and, instead of
following the winding path along which the ascent
was made, a track is taken that leads in a straight
line from the summit of the cone to the base, near
the blocks of lava where the mules are left* : the
descent is accomplished in a few minutes ; for, as
the ashes are deep and no large stones are in the
way, it is both a safe and easy process to run
down.

The appearance produced by the glare of the

* These blocks of lava were thrown out from the crater in
the month of August, 1779

clunn^i t o r » ! . - . 1 hy l wo walls of lava,, with 'the lava flowing alon£ Lt

SKETCHES OF VESUVIUS.

torches over the dusky and desolate piles of lava
among which the road lies, is wild, singular, and
romantic, particularly so, when the party is large
and furnished with many flambeaux : the beauty
of the scene is much increased by the intermixture
of the dark cloaks of the men, with the party
coloured shawls and dresses of the women, the
medley of horses, asses, mules, and their uncouth
drivers, with torch-bearers, facchini carrying baskets
on their heads, and half clothed stragglers who, in
this idle country, commonly present themselves on
every excursion in which a number of persons are
assembled. The effect of the motley groups,
hallooing and screaming, as, moving forward, they
wind through the deep cut in the hill of the
Canteroni, below the Hermitage, is equally strange
and picturesque.

How different the feeling’ of the traveller when
the moon, in some calm evening, throws her
silvery light over the rugged scene, faintly illu-
minating the mountain, the plain, and the glassy
sea, but scarcely disclosing the islands, or the
range of the Apennines, except as shadows in the
distance ! Slowly and silently, attended by his
mule driver or guide, he proceeds downwards,
afraid almost to whisper, lest he should disturb the
stillness which reigns around, and break the charm
of this impressive solitude.

‘20

SKETCHES OF VESUVIUS.

If the descent is made in the daytime, the route
may be changed, with much advantage, by going-
down through the Fosso Faraone and the Nocelle.
This will occupy a little more than two hours from
the Hermitage, and will present a very different,
but still a beautiful aspect of the mountain and the
plain that skirts its base.

The path leads from the north side of the plat-
form of San Salvatore, and winds among the oak
plantation till it arrives in the Fosso Vetrana, on a
narrow space, to the very edge of which the over-
running thickets descend, between the Somma and
the Canteroni. It thence passes through a narrow
gorge for a few paces, when the eye unexpectedly
discovers the lower parts of the mountain, the
ridge of the Somma sloping to St. Sebastian, and
the plain with the numerous dells, or watercourses,
which intersect it, at a depth of 400 feet below the
pass. Every part is completely covered with
stunted trees, the autumnal clothing of which casts
a rich, brown hue over the surface, and gives an
aged and forest-like appearance to the whole.

The road continues along the brink of a preci-
pice which overhangs a considerable space of the
slope, and, gradually descending the Pietra di
Cautril, crosses a path which runs from the Her-
mitage to St. Sebastian. At this point the view is
very lovely : the Canteroni being covered with

SKETCHES OF VESUVIUS.

‘21

myrtles and other evergreens, growing among
large, detached, and craggy masses of tufo or ot
lava, have a bold and rocky appearance; and the
Somma, overspread with its dun and leafy garment
and tinted by the bright rays of the sun, affords a
diversity of colour and a profusion of light and
shadow, which heighten the picture into magnifi-
cent effect.

The path* then enters a cleft eight feet wide
and twenty feet high, in the solid tufo or sand, and
continues, for some distance, between its perpen-
dicular walls, till a break occurs in the southern
side, which discloses Naples, hanging as it were in
the air, for the intervening country is concealed
from view. The path then becomes more narrow,
its sides rise higher, and instead of being straight,
it follows a serpentine course. Vines, fruit trees,
and shrubs hang over the cleft, almost shutting out
the light, and its edges are fringed by creeping
plants and brambles. After ten minutes’ walk in
this cold damp passage, one comes out into sun-
shine and into the open vineyards, through which
a good road leads till it arrives at the edge of a
deep ravine, the depth of which is at least 80 or
(J0 feet: its steep sides are here and there tufted
with enormous aloes, or overgrown with ivy and

* The name given to this part of the route is the Cupa delle
Nocelle.

SKETCHES OF VESUVIUS.

luxuriant bushes ; and at its bottom rolls a stream,
which, after rain, becomes a foaming torrent, as it
receives a great deal of the water which descends
on this side of the mountain. The road winds
along the southern side of this dell and enters
another pass in the tufo, but soon issues again and
joins the high road from Portici to St. Sebastian.
Here it turns to the left and proceeds between
stone walls and hedges enclosing fruit gardens and
vineyards, till it crosses a stream of the lava of
I7C7, the principal one described in the ascent
through the Fosso Grande. It then again enters
a cultivated district, and after several turns, now
to the right, now to the left, arrives at an isolated
mass of lava on which a cross is erected ; whence it
immediately passes under a bridge that connects
the Royal Grounds, and, intersecting them, enters
Resina on the northern side of the church, the
opposite side to that which was passed on quitting
the town.

It may be proper to observe that several parts of
this road, especially near the Pietra di Cautril, are
in bad condition, steep, rugged, and unsafe unless
passed on foot ; but the rest of it is as good as any
of the other routes.

Having thus proceeded from the bottom to the
top, and again from the summit to the base of this
celebrated mountain, and having described, in the

SKETCHES OF VESUVIUS.

2 3

order in which they present themselves, the most
striking parts of its western or more frequented
side, it remains for me to hope that my sketches,
however faint and imperfect they may be, will,
nevertheless, serve as a general outline of Vesuvius
to strangers, and induce those who have the op-
portunity, to fill them up, by personal inspection,
to the variety, magnitude, and sublimity of their
original.

c 4

SHORT ACCOUNT

OF THE

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS

FROM THE YEAK 79 TO THE PRESENT TIME.

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ERUPTIONS

VESUVIUS.

“ Forth from whose nitrous caverns rise
Pure liquid fountains of tempestuous fire.

And veil in ruddy mist the noonday skies ;

While wrapt in smoke the eddying flames aspire,

Or gleaming through the night with hideous roar,

Far o’er the reddening main huge rocky fragments pour.”

The history of Vesuvius, previous to the com-
mencement of the Christian era, is involved in the
obscurity of fable. The historians and geographers
of that early epoch allude to its eruptions, but
make no precise mention of the periods to which
tradition or the annals, then extant, assigned them.
In describing the appearance of the mountain, they
have, moreover, given no clear information with
regard to its form, so that we are uncertain whe-
ther, in their days, it rose, from the base, as
a single cone, or had the shape it now presents j
though, from its structure, it is evident that the
wall of Somma and the ridge of the Pedementina
once formed the circumference of the cone, the

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

height of which was probably much greater than
that of the present one ; for without such a sup-
position “ the original crater must have been many
miles in diameter, and more enormous than almost
any one known on the globe.”*

No record informs us when that part, of which
the Pedementina formed the base, was carried
away, although it is generally supposed to have
been displaced during the great eruption of 79
A. D. ; Somma, the only part of the original crater
which resisted the shock, remaining.

The first author who takes notice of Vesuvius,
is Diodorus of Sicily, and he states “ that it had,
in former times, thrown out fire, like Etna, and
that it still (25 years before Christ) retained many
vestiges of ancient eruptions.”

The next is Strabo, who wrote about seventeen
years B. C. After giving a description of the local-
ities of Herculaneum, Pompeii, Nola, Nocera, and
Acerra, he says, “ Over these is situated Vesuvius, a
mountain surrounded by very fertile land, though
the summit, the greater part of which is flat and
barren, like ashes in appearance, contains caverns
full of holes, and stones of a dark colour as if
burnt by fire. It is therefore easy to conjecture
that these places formerly were ignited, and had

* Lycll.

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

craters of fire which afterwards became extinct for
want of materials to consume.”

Vitruvius, fifteen years B. C., recommends an
earth (Pozzuolana), found about Baja and the
neighbouring country, at no great distance from
Vesuvius, as being a most proper and durable
cement for building, under water as well as on dry
land. He supposes one cause of its excellence to
be the process it has undergone in the fire which
lies below all this district. “ It deserves also to
be mentioned,” continues he, “ that long ago fire
greatly increased under Vesuvius, whence it arose
and discharged flames over the country around.”

This is all we learn of Vesuvius from those who
described it before the reign of Titus ; and we
may suppose that if the summit or crater had not
been a sterile plain, while its sides were covered
with luxuriant woods, with vineyards and gardens,
it would have presented at that time much the
same aspect as do now Monte Barbaro and the
Astroni, where the thickets are almost impervious,
and forest trees grow closely together. The in-
habitants of the populous cities around it, no doubt,
lived in fancied security, little dreaming that a
dangerous element lay beneath them ; that irresist-
ible torrents of fire were ready to burst out from
the bowels of the then tranquil mountain ; and
that these, in their precipitous descent, might

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

involve them all, as indeed they did, in one com-
mon destruction.

The first portentous sign of returning vigour
which Vesuvius gave, was an earthquake in the
year 03, the shocks of which laid in ruins most
of the cities at its base, and frightened and drove
away the inhabitants from their dwellings. No
sooner, however, had the terror inspired by this
convulsion subsided, than the people, returning to
their habitations, proceeded to repair them, and
to rebuild the public edifices.

Sixteen years of treacherous quiet passed away,
when the mountain began again to exhibit its
tremendous activity, during which

“ Clouds quench the sun, and thunder-smoke
Strangles the air, and fire eclipses heaven,”

and which has since often threatened the neigh-
bouring country with devastation.

79 A. D. The first recorded eruption, that by
which Herculaneum and Pompeii were buried,
began on the 24th August, and is so fully described
by Pliny the younger, in two letters to Tacitus,
that I cannot do better than by inserting them.

“ To Tacitus.*

“ Your request that I would send you an ac-
count of my uncle’s death, in order to transmit a

* Melmoth's translation, book iv. let. 1 G.

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

more exact relation of it to posterity, merits my
acknowledgments ; for, if the glorious circum-
stances which occasioned this accident shall be
celebrated by your pen, the manner of his exit
will be rendered for ever illustrious. Notwith-
standing he perished by a misfortune, which, as it
involved, at the same time, a most beautiful country
in ruins, and destroyed so many populous cities,
seems to promise him an everlasting remembrance :
notwithstanding he has himself composed many
works which will descend to the latest times ; yet,
I am persuaded, the mentioning of him in your
immortal writings will greatly contribute to eternize
his name. Happy I deem those to be, whom the
gods have distinguished with the abilities either
of performing such actions as are worthy of being
related, or of relating them in a manner worthy of
being read ; but doubly happy are they who are
blessed with both these uncommon endowments :
and in that number my uncle, as his own writings
and your history will prove, may justly be ranked.
It is with extreme willingness, therefore, I execute
your commands ; and I should, indeed, have
claimed the task, if you had not enjoined it. He
was, at that time, with the fleet under his com-
mand, at Misenum. On the 24 th of August,
about one in the afternoon, my mother desired
him to observe a cloud which appeared of a very

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

unusual size and shape. He had just returned
from enjoying the benefit of the sun ; and after
bathing in cold water, and taking a slight repast,
was retired to his study : he immediately arose,
and went out upon an eminence, from whence he
might more distinctly view this very singular phe-
nomenon. It was not, at that distance, discernible
from what mountain this cloud issued ; but it was
found afterwards to proceed from Vesuvius. I
cannot give you a more exact description of its
figure, than by resembling it to that of a pine-tree ;
for it shot up a great height in the form of a tall
trunk, which spread at the top into a sort of
branches ; occasioned, I suppose, either that the
force of the internal vapour which impelled the
cloud upwards decreased in strength as it ad-
vanced, or that the cloud, being pressed back by
its own weight, expanded itself in the manner I
have mentioned : it appeared sometimes bright,
and sometimes dark and spotted, as it was either
more or less impregnated with earth and cinders.
This uncommon appearance excited my uncle’s
philosophical curiosity to take a nearer view of it.
He accordingly ordered a light vessel to be pre-
pared, and offered me the liberty, if I thought
proper, to attend him. I rather chose to continue
the employment in which I was engaged ; for it
happened that he had given me a certain writing

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

to copy. As he was going out of‘ the house with
his tablets in his hand, he was met by the mariners
belonging to the galleys stationed at Retina, from
which they had fled in the utmost terror ; for, that
port being situated at the foot of Vesuvius, they
had no other way to escape than by sea. They
conjured him, therefore, not to proceed, and ex-
pose his life to imminent and inevitable danger.
In compliance with their advice, he changed his
original intention, and, instead of gratifying his
philosophical spirit, he resigned it to the more
magnanimous principle of aiding the distressed.
With this view, he ordered the fleet immediately
to put to sea, and went himself on board with an
intention of assisting not only Retina, but the
several other towns which stood thick upon that
beautiful coast. Hastening to the place, there-
fore, from whence others fled with the utmost
terror, he steered his direct course to the point of
danger, and with so much calmness and presence
of mind, as to be able to make and dictate his
observations upon the appearance and progress of
that dreadful scene. He was now so near the
mountain, that the cinders, which grew thicker
and hotter the more he advanced, fell into the
ships, together with pumice-stones, and black
pieces of burning rock ; they were, likewise, in
danger not only of being aground by the sudden

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

retreat of the sea, but also from the vast fragments
which rolled down from the mountains, and ob-
structed all the shore. Here he stopped to con-
sider whether he should return back ; to which
the pilot advising him, ‘ Fortune,’ said he, ‘ be-
friends the brave : steer to Pomponianus.’ Pom-
ponianus was then at Stabia, separated by a gulf
which the sea, after several insensible windings,
forms upon that shore. Pomponianus had already
sent his baggage on board ; for, though he was
not, at that time, in actual danger, yet, being
within the view of it, and, indeed, extremely near,
he was determined, if it should in the least increase,
to put to sea as soon as the wind should change.
It was favourable, however, for carrying my uncle
to Pomponianus, whom he found in the greatest
consternation ; and, embracing him with tender-
ness, he encouraged and exhorted him to keep up
his spirits. The more to dissipate his fears, he
ordered his servants, with an air of unconcern, to
carry him to the baths ; and, after having bathed,
he sat down to supper with great, or at least (what
is equally heroic) with all the appearance of cheer-
fulness. In the mean while the fire from Vesuvius
flamed forth from several parts of the mountain
with great violence ; which the darkness of the
nis;ht contributed to render still more visible and
dreadful. But my uncle, in order to calm the

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

apprehensions of his friend, assured him it was
only the conflagration of the villages, which the
country people had abandoned. After this, he
retired to rest ; and it is most certain, he was so
little discomposed as to fall into a deep sleep ; for,
being corpulent, and breathing hard, the attendants
in the antechamber actually heard him snore.

The court which led to his apartment being now
almost filled with stones and ashes, it would have
been impossible for him, if he had continued there
any longer, to have made his way out ; it was
thought proper, therefore, to awaken him. He
got up, and joined Pomponianus and the rest of
the company, who had not been sufficiently un-
concerned to think of going to bed. They con-
sulted together, whether it would be most prudent
to trust to the houses, which now shook from side
to side with frequent and violent concussions, or
flee to the open fields, where the calcined stones
and cinders, though levigated, indeed, yet fell in
large showers, and threatened them with instant
destruction. In this distress they resolved for the
fields, as the less dangerous situation of the two ;
a resolution which, while the rest of the company
were hurried into by their fears, my uncle em-
braced, upon cool and deliberate consideration.
They went out, then, having pillows tied upon
their heads with napkins ; and this was their whole

d ! 2

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

S()

defence against the storm of stones that fell around
them. It was now day every where else, but
there a deeper darkness prevailed than in the
blackest night, which, however, was in some de-
gree dissipated by torches and other lights of
various kinds. They thought it expedient to go
down farther upon the shore, in order to observe if
they might safely put out to sea ; but they found
the waves still running extremely high and boister-
ous. There my uncle, having drunk a draught or
two of cold water, laid himself down upon a sail-
cloth, which was spread for him ; when immedi-
ately the flames, preceded by a strong smell of
sulphur, dispersed the rest of the company, and
obliged him to rise. He raised himself up, with
the assistance of two of his servants, and instantly
fell down dead ; suffocated, I conjecture, by some
gross and noxious vapour, as having always had
weak lungs, and being frequently subject to a dif-
ficulty of breathing. As soon as it was light
again, which was not till the third day after this
melancholy accident, his body was found entire, and
without any marks of violence, exactly in the same
posture in which he fell, and looking more like a man
asleep than dead. During all this time, my mother

and I, who were at Misenum JButas this has no

connection with your history, so your enquiry went
no farther than concerning mv uncle’s death : with

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS. 37

that, therefore, I will put an end to my letter.
Suffer me only to add, that I have faithfully re-
lated to you what I was either an eye-witness of
myselfj or received immediately after the accident
happened, and before there was time to vary the
truth. You will choose out of this narrative such
circumstances as shall be most suitable to your
purpose ; for there is a great difference between
writing a letter, and composing a history ; between
addressing a friend, and addressing the public.
Farewell.”

“ To Cornelius Tacitus. *

“ The letter which, in compliance with your re-
quest, I wrote to you, concerning the death of my
uncle, has raised, it seems, your curiosity to know
what terrors and dangers attended me while I con-
tinued at Misenum; for there, I think, the account
in my former broke off.

* Though my shock’d soul recoils, my tongue shall tell.’

“ My uncle having left us, I continued the em-
ployment which prevented my going with him, till
it was time to bathe ; after which I went to sup-
per, and then fell into a short and unquiet sleep.
There had been, during many days before, some
shocks of an earthquake, which the less alarmed
us, as they are frequent in Campania; but they

* Melmoth’s translation, book vi. let. 20.

l) 3

.‘38

ERUPTIONS or VESUVIUS.

were so particularly violent that night, that they
not only shook every thing about us, but seemed,
indeed, to threaten total destruction. My mother
Hew to my chamber, where she found me rising in
order to awaken her. We went out into a small
court belonging to the house, which separated the
sea from the buildings. As I was at that time
but eighteen years of age, I know not whether I
should call my behaviour, in this perilous conjunc-
ture, courage or rashness ; but I took up Livv,
and amused myself with turning over that author,
and even making extracts from him, as if I had
been perfectly at my ease. While we were in this
situation, a friend of my uncle’s, who was just
come from Spain, to pay him a visit, joined us,
and observing me sitting by my mother with a
book in my hand, reproved her patience and my
security ; nevertheless I still went on with my au-
thor. It was now morning, but the light was
exceedingly faint and languid ; the buildings all
around us tottered ; and though we stood upon
open ground, yet, as the place was narrow and
confined, there was no remaining without immi-
nent danger : we therefore resolved to leave the
town. The people followed us in the utmost con-
sternation, and (as, to a mind distracted with terror,
every suggestion seems more prudent than its own)
pressed in great crowds about us in our way out.

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

Being advanced at a convenient distance from
the houses, we stood still, in the midst of a most
hazardous and tremendous scene. The chariots,
which we had ordered to be drawn out, were so
agitated backwards and forwards, though upon
the most level ground, that we could not keep
them steady even by supporting them with large
stones. The sea seemed to roll back upon itself,
and to be driven from its banks by the convulsive
motion of the earth ; it is certain, at least, the
shore was considerably enlarged, and several sea-
animals were left upon it. On the other side, a
black and dreadful cloud, bursting with an ig-
neous serpentine vapour, darted out a long train
of fire, resembling flashes of lightning, but much
larger. Upon this our Spanish friend, whom I
mentioned above, addressing himself to my mother
and me, with great warmth and earnestness : ‘ If
your brother, and your uncle,’ said he, ‘ is safe,
he certainly wishes you may be so too ; but if he
perished, it was his desire, no doubt, that you might
both survive him ; why, therefore, do you delay
your escape a moment?’ We could never think
of our own safety, we replied, while we were un-
certain of his : upon which our friend left us, and
withdrew from the danger with the utmost preci-
pitation. Soon afterwards, the cloud seemed to
descend, and cover the whole ocean ; as, indeed,

d 4

ERUPTIONS OP VESUVIUS.

it entirely hid the island of Caprea, and the pro-
montory of Misenum. My mother conjured me
to make my escape at any rate, which, as I was
young, I might easily effect; as for herself, she
said, her age and corpulency rendered all attempts
of that sort impossible ; however, she would will-
ingly meet death, if she could have the satisfaction
of seeing that she was not the occasion of mine.
But I absolutely refused to leave her ; and taking
her by the hand, I led her on : she complied with
great reluctance, and not without many reproaches
to herself for being the occasion of retarding my
flight. The ashes now began to fall upon us,
though in no great quantity. I turned my head,
and observed behind us thick smoke, which came
rolling after us like a torrent ; 1 proposed, while
we had yet any light, to turn out of the high road,
lest she should be pressed to death in the dark,
by the crowd that followed us. We had scarcely
stepped out of the path, when darkness overspread
us ; not like that of a cloudy night, or when there
is no moon, but of a room when it is shut up, and
all the lights extinct. Nothing, then, was to be
heard but the shrieks of women, the screams of
children, and the cries of men ; some calling for
their children, others for their parents, others for
their husbands, and only distinguishing each other
by their voices ; one lamenting his own fate, an-

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

■H

other that of his family ; some wishing to die, from
the very fear of dying ; some lifting their hands
to the gods ; but the greater part imagining that
the last and eternal night was come, which was
to destroy both the gods and the world together.
Among these there were some who augmented
the real terrors by imaginary ones, and made the
frighted multitude falsely believe that Misenum
was actually in flames. At length a glimmering
light appeared, which we imagined to be rather
the forerunner of an approaching burst of flames
(as in fact it was), than the return of day ; how-
ever, the fire fell at a distance from us : then again
we were immersed in thick darkness, and a heavy
shower of ashes rained upon us, which we were
obliged every now and then to shake off otherwise
we should have been overwhelmed and buried in
the heap. I might boast, that during all this scene
of horror, not a sigh, or expression of fear, escaped
from me, had not my support been founded on
that miserable, though strong consolation, that all
mankind were involved in the same calamity, and
that I imagined I was perishing with the world it-
self. At last, this terrible darkness was dissipated
by degrees, like a cloud or smoke ; the real day
returned, and even the sun appeared, though very
faintly, and as when an eclipse is coming on.
Every object that presented itself to our eyes

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

4 12

(which were extremely weakened) seemed changed,
being covered with white ashes, as with a deep
snow. We returned to Misenum, where we re-
freshed ourselves as we could, and passed an anxi-
ous night between hope and fear; though, indeed,
with a much larger share of the latter : for the earth
still continued to shake, while several enthusiastic
persons ran wildly among the people, throwing out
terrifying predictions, and making a kind of frantic
sport of their own and their friends’ wretched situ-
ation. However, my mother and I, notwithstand-
ing the danger we had passed, and that which
still threatened us, had no intention of leaving
Misenum, till we should receive some account of
my uncle.

“ And now, you will read this narrative without
any view of' inserting it in your history, of which
it is by no means worthy ; and, indeed, you must
impute it to your own request, if it should appear
not to deserve even the trouble of a letter. Fare-
well.”

Plutarch, 104 years afterwards, speaks of “ the
eruption of fire from the mountain, the agitation
of the sea, the projection of rocks and flaming
masses, and the burying of many cities, at present
so completely lost that no one can even discern
where they stood.”

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

Dion Cassius* gives a description of this erup-
tion, but lie mixes up fact with the tales of wonder
which had been invented and handed down by
tradition during the preceding 1,50 years. He
says, “ Extraordinary events occurred in Campania,
for fire suddenly broke out from Vesuvius, in
which mountain there were copious sources of fire.
Formerly its summit was equal on every part, the
sides untouched by fire, and the interior only,
burnt and reduced to ashes. A part of the cir-
cumference became ignited, was consumed, and
fell, leaving the rest in a concave form, so that it
resembled an Amphitheatre.”

After describing gigantic apparitions in the air,
he continues: “A great dearth followed, and violent
earthquakes shook the country. Then succeeded
bellowing noises, both subterranean and aerial;
the sea roared terribly, and sudden crashes were
heard as if mountains were rent in pieces. Large
stones were thrown up, and great masses of fire
and smoke, so that the air was darkened and the
sun obscured as if eclipsed ; quantities of ashes
covered the earth and sea, destroying every thing,
and burying two entire cities, Herculaneum and
Pompeii, while the people sat in the theatre ; the
ashes were carried to Africa, Syria, and Egypt, and

* Hist, Rom. lib. lxvi.

ERUPTIONS OP VESUVIUS.

great terror was caused in Rome, where the air
was so completely darkened by them that the sun
was not seen for a whole day.”

Galenus, in 172 A. D., describing the situation
of Vesuvius, states that the mountain had become
celebrated on account of the eruption.

Eutropius*, who wrote A.D. 370, in detailing the
events of the reign of Titus, says, “ At that time,
also, Vesuvius, a mountain of Campania, opened;
there came out a quantity of burning matter ; and
the neighbouring region, with its cities and in-
habitants, was destroyed by floods of flame.”

203 A. D. The second eruption is also alluded
to by Dion in the life of Septimius Severus.t
“ In those days,” says he, “ an immense fire broke
out on the mountain Vesuvius; and such was the
loudness of the explosions, that they were heard
even at Capua, in which city I reside when I
make any stay in Italy.”

472 A. D. Sigonius, in his history of the West-
ern Empire!, speaks of the third eruption as
follows : “ In the year 472, Vesuvius, a mountain of
Campania, disturbed by internal fire, vomited out
its burnt-up entrails ; a darkness, like that of night,
reigned during the day, and all Europe was covered
with fine ashes.” According to his account the

* Hist. Rom. lib. ix.
t Lib. xiv.

f Hist. Rom. lib. xxvi.

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

4 r>

latter fell in Constantinople, where they raised
considerable curiosity, and even created some
alarm.

512 A. D. The fourth eruption happened dur-
ing the reign of Theodoric; and Cassiodorus, in a
letter to the king, describes it as having com-
menced with a violent rumbling sound in the
interior of the mountain, then columns of thick
smoke and ashes were thrown out, the latter falling
at great distances from the mountain ; streams of
hot sand glided down from its summit ; and the
sides of these torrents, impeded in their course,
were heaped up, forming two banks between which
the sand flowed like water.

085 A. D. In the month of March and in the
reign of Constantine the Fourth, the next eruption
occurred, in which much fire was seen on the
summit and a great quantity of ashes ejected.

993 A. D. The sixth eruption now took place,
and Glabrus Rodolphus, according to Baronius,
relates “ that there happened very wonderful
eruptions of fire from Vesuvius. Besides the
injury done to many other cities of Italy, Rome
was burnt in several parts, the fire attacking the
cathedral of St. Peter. Prayers were offered up to
the Apostle to implore his aid for the preservation
of the buildings, and we are told that the fire
immediately ceased.” It is supposed that this is

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

also the eruption which Guaimarius prince of Sa-
lerno is said to have seen, when “ from afar off he
beheld the pitchy and sulphurous flames that burst
suddenly from Vesuvius.”

1086 A. D. The seventh eruption began on the
27th February, and is the first in which any mention
is made of lava, or of liquefied matter, that in cool-
ing became hard and of the consistence of stone.
The lava not only flowed from the summit, but
also from the sides of the cone, and ran down into
the sea.

1049 A. D. The eighth eruption is supposed
to have been remarkable for the quantity of lava it
threw out, which is described in the account that
Marsicano, cardinal and bishop of Ostia, has given
of it as “ a torrent of sulphurous resin or bitumen,
that descended to the sea and became petrified.”

1138 A. D. The ninth eruption occurred on
the 29th May, and the anonymous writer in the
Chronicles of the Convent of Monte Casino, says,
“ the mountain Vesuvius threw out fire for forty
days;” and he again alludes to it in speaking of
the coming of Roger the Third to Salerno : “ After
this there was a great eruption of Vesuvius,
followed by heavy clouds of dust that darkened
the air and covered the whole region even to the
Principato Ultra and Calabria, their motion increas-
ing and decreasing, as if agitated by the wind.”

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

1139 A. D. The tenth eruption was accompa-
nied by a great quantity of fire, which lasted eight
days ; and for thirty days after, dark and alarming
clouds of ashes were ejected.

1306 A. D. During the eleventh eruption a
torrent of melted matter flowed down to the sea,
laying waste a great extent of country.

1500 A. D. The twelfth eruption was witnessed
by Leon of Nola, who wrote a description of his
native place and of Vesuvius. Among the sub-
stances thrown out he notices showers of red ashes,
which fell over a great space of country around
Vesuvius.

The long interval of repose between the twelfth
and thirteenth eruptions* enabled the proprietors of
land on the mountain to cultivate it higher up
towards the cone ; and we are told that all the
plain (now the Atrio and Pedementina) around

* A. D. 1538. During the years 1537 and 1538 numerous
shocks of earthquakes were felt along the whole coast of Baia,
and on the 27th and 28th September in the latter year, they be-
came violent and terrifying. About 8 o’clock in the evening of
the 29th a fissure opened in the earth near Tripergola, a village
famous for its baths, situated about a mile to the west of Pozzuoli.
A conical shaped hill, formed of the matter extruded during that
night and the following day, rose up through the chasm, de-
stroying and occupying the site of the village, as well as the
greater part of the Lucrine lake. Its present height is 440
English feet above the level of the sea ; and the depth of its
crater, which is an inverted cone, is 421 feet, and it is, at its
base, nearly a mile and a half in circumference.

1.8

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

it was covered with herbage fit for cattle, and
many plants very useful for medical purposes.

The base of the cone was six miles round, and
its steep, barren sides rose 350 geometrical feet
above the plain. From its summit was visible
a gulf a thousand paces deep, four miles in
circuit, and shaped like the hull of a ship : it was
surrounded by a skreen of burnt rock on which
nothing would grow ; but a slope descended thence
to a narrow ledge covered with shrubs, where a
zigzag path went through thickets to a plain at
the bottom, and there cattle might graze, for the
vegetation flourished wherever the sun reached it.

Oaks, elms, holm-oaks, lime and ash trees,
besides privet, broom, and other shrubs, covered
one part of the plain, and among them wild boars
frequently took shelter ; in another part there
were three pools, the water of one of which was
hot and bitter, of another hot and tasteless, and
that of the third was salter than the sea; while
the plain towards the South East was distinguished
only by being strewn with ashes.

1631 A. D. The thirteenth eruption was pre-
ceded by shocks of earthquakes, and the drying
up of the wells around the mountain. On the
1 6th of December the volcano threw out immense
volumes of smoke, which rose in the shape of a
pine-tree, in the manner described by Pliny, and

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

thence spreading out, cast a shade over the whole
gulf, and covered the country with ashes and sand.
In the midst of the thick smoke, “ vivid flashes of
lightning, like arrows of fire, were frequently seen ;
thunder was heard to roll fearfully, and vast stones
were shot from the crater.” The next day a part
of the western side of the crater burst open, and a
sulphurous, bituminous, vitrified matter rapidly
descended the mountain like a torrent of molten
glass, and a stream of hot ashes ran from the
summit, laying waste the country. The torrent of
lava divided itself into seven principal streams,
destroying gardens, vineyards, towns, every thing
that lay in its way. One stream ran to Pietra
Bianca, between Sta. Maria di Securreris near Por-
tici ; the third to St. Giorgio and Cremano in
St. Iorio, which, except the church, was totally
destroyed. A fourth reached Portici and Grana-
tello ; a fifth Resina, completely overwhelming it
and Torre del Greco, of which two thirds were
laid in ruins. The sixth went to Torre dell’
Annunziata, which it nearly destroyed, and the
seventh to Massa, St. Sebastiano, and la Madonna
dell’ Arco : four thousand people fell victims to
the flames, and the whole country presented one
heap of smoking ruins.

After the eruption it rained heavily for two
days ; and the water rushing down the sides of the

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

mountain, carried sand and ashes along with it,
laying waste the land which had not been touched
by the lava, and even covering houses in its course.
On the 20th an earthquake shook the mountain,
and was felt in Naples, where it alarmed the
people, and did considerable damage. On the
28th a torrent of water a«;ain flowed down the
mountain, and, as there had been no rain for
several days, many supposed that it was water
sucked from the sea into the hollow under Vesuvius
and again forced out from its mouth : some people
declared that they had found sea-weed in it and
fish ready boiled. It is possible, that the water,
from the rains, had been pent up in the valley
between Somma and the cone by ashes ; and had,
at last, burst its barrier. Rumbling sounds in the
mountain were heard for many days, and then it
became perfectly tranquil.

1660 A.D. The fourteenth eruption occurred
in the month of July, unaccompanied by any
noise. The lava boiled up within the crater until
it reached the summit, and then, flowing over, ran
down on the country. This was succeeded by
great quantities of smoke, charged with dust and
ashes, which fell and did much damage to the
vineyards.

1682 A.D. The fifteenth eruption happened on
the 12th August. The smoke issued from the

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

summit in the shape of a pine, and showers of
ashes and lapillo followed. The smoke was con-
stantly evolved till the 22d, accompanied by light-
ning, which flashed through it, and by some
inconsiderable earthquakes. The level of the lava
in the crater was considerably raised, but it did
not overflow. Slight eruptions also occurred during
the years 1685 and 1689-
1694* A. D. The mountain remained tranquil
until the 12th of March, when the 16th eruption
took place. A great earthquake, early in the
month, had prepared the inhabitants for an ex-
plosion, which in fact happened at nine o’clock in
the evening. The lava flowed over the summit
and ran towards the Fosso Corvo, where it sepa-
rated into two streams, one of which slowly ap-
proached Torre del Greco, the other St. Iorio.
Two years afterwards another stream issued from
the summit taking the direction of the Hermitage,
till its progress was arrested by the lava of 1694.
Again, on the 15th and 16th September, 1697> a
stream flowed towards Torre del Greco, over the
old one, much alarming the inhabitants of the
town. On the 25th May, 16Q8, the lava once more
rushed down, and, separating into two streams,
took its way to the Hermitage and Resina. Soon
after another stream directed itself towards Torre
del Greco and, in two days, had very nearly

e 2

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

approached it. Much smoke and dust were thrown
out, accompanied by loud detonations ; but by the
12th of June the mountain had become tranquil.

1701 A. D. The seventeenth burst out on the
1st of July with showers of stones and ashes; the
next day the lava flowed from tiie summit towards
the woods of Ottajano and Bosco Reale. On
the 15th the mountain was quiet, and the lava had
stopped.

1704 A. D. On the 20t,h of May, the eighteenth
eruption commenced by a shower of ashes, accom-
panied by a hollow rumbling sound, which was
heard at a great distance. The lava rose above
the edge of the crater, but did not pass it. In
1705, 1706, and from the 28th July to the 18th of
August, 1707, and on the 14th of August, 170S, the
same phenomena occurred.

1712 A.D. The nineteenth eruption began on
the 15th February, but it was not until the 26th of
April that the lava appeared on the outside of the
cone, when a considerable stream descended its
southern flank towards the Fosso Bianco. Several
smaller streams flowed into the territory around
Torre del Greco on the 12th and 17th of May
following. On the 29th of October a new stream
reached the Fosso Bianco, and advanced, on the
8th November, towards Torre del Greco. In May,
1713, the lava again issued from the summit,

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

directing itself, at different times, towards Ottajano,
Torre del Greco, Resina; and in June, 1714, it
flowed towards Torre dell’ Annunziata, for several
days, accompanied by showers of ashes and sub-
terranean detonations.

1717 A.D. The twentieth eruption occurred on
the 6th June. The southern side of the cone burst
open, and the lava rushed out, flowing in two
directions, one being Bosco Tre Case, and the
other lying between the Camaldoli and Torre del
Greco: on the 16th September, 1718, more lava
issued, one part flowing towards Mauro, and another
to Bosco Reale and Resina. Vesuvius continued
in a state of occasional activity till July, 1719, when
it became tranquil. In 1723 the lava spread out
like a lake, in the valley between Somma and the
cone, and, on the 29th of June, descended towards
Mauro : it continued to do so till the 8th of July.
In 1724 and 172.5 the lava flowed over that of the
preceding years, but on the 20th April, 1726, it ran
towards the Hermitage and Torre del Greco. In
March, 1727, and July, 1728, other lavas flowed
over these.

1730 A.D. The twenty-first eruption began
on the 27th February, announced by a shower of
ashes and dust, which was thrown out with a dread-
ful noise. In eleven days from the 19th March a
torrent of lava descended into the woods of Otta-

e 3

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

jano. In 1732 the lava flowed out, on the 8th
January, and continued running, at long intervals,
till the 1st of May. In June, Sorrentini says, the
level of the lava was even with the edge of the
crater, and on the 10th July it ran over and flowed
down the mountain, at several times, until the
middle of January, 1734, when it became quiet.

1737 A.D. The twenty-second eruption was
preceded by an enormous column of smoke, which
rose from the crater on the 14th of May. On the
15th and 16th the lava was higher than the edge
of the crater, and it flowed over, menacing Bosco
lleale with destruction ; at the same time, very
large stones were continually shot up, from the
centre of the crater. On the 20th the showers of
ashes and lapillo were immense, and rumblings
were heard in the mountain. At six in the even-
ing an opening was formed in the southern side,
through which a quantity of lava issued, and de-
scended, in four hours, to the outer edge of the
plain of the Pedementina. At one in the morning
of the 21st the stream of lava had greatly aug-
mented; and, splitting at the base of the cone into
several streams, it proceeded towards Resina,
filling up a deep ravine, covering a great extent of
land around Torre del Greco, and, reaching the
sea on the same day, ceased to flow. Volumes of
smoke, ashes, and lapillo were vomited out of the

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

crater during the eruption : flashes of fire con-
stantly darted through the smoke, and were called
by the common people “ ferilli.”

1751 A.D. The twenty-third eruption hap-
pened in October, on the 22d of which month, at
five o’clock in the morning, violent explosions
were heard on the side of' the crater towards Bosco
Reale. On the 23d an earthquake was felt at
Massa, and also at Naples; and on the 25th, about
midnight, the cone, a little above its base and
opposite Bosco Tre Case, burst open, a stratum of
compact ancient lava, partly melted by the heat,
having been turned over. A stream issued im-
mediately, descended to the plain, and flowed
towards Tre Case ; but lower down it changed its
course, and running on to Mauro, traversed a dis-
tance of four miles in eight hours, burning up
every thing with which it came in contact. In
November it had ceased to run, but it was many
months in cooling. Two smaller streams went
towards the Bosco d’ Ottajano, but soon stopped.

1754 A.D. The twenty-fourth eruption broke
out abruptly on the 2d of December : the cone
presented two openings, one facing Bosco Tre
Case, and the other over Ottajano: the lava from
them advanced towards both of these places.
Della Torre observed in the air, close to the column
of smoke, some circles formed in it, similar to

e 4

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

those occasioned by the discharge of cannon; and
they remained in the air from 15 to 23 minutes,
till, at length, they were dissipated by the wind.
This fact had been noticed in 1730 by Sorrentini.
About the end of the following January an in-
terior or small cone was seen, from Naples, above
the edge of the great crater; and on the 31st the
great cone burst open opposite the eastern end of
Somma, and lava flowed out for two months,
following the course of a former stream towards
the woods of Ottajano. The mountain continued
in a state of almost uninterrupted activity from
1754 to 1759.

1759 A.D. The twenty-fifth eruption occurred
on the 27th of March. On the 29th the explosions
were awful, and shook the windows in Naples.
On the 30th, at seven o’clock in the evening, the
lava issued from the summit, and flowed with great
rapidity down the mountain ; and, though it ceased
the next day, it did much injury to property.

1 760 A. D. The twenty-sixth eruption was re-
markable for the situation of the opening, whence
the lava flowed. It was not, as it had always
been before, on the side of the cone, or on the
plain near its base, but at a great distance down
on its southern flank, about one mile above the
convent of the Camaldoli della Torre. After se-
veral shocks of earthquake, and great fermentation

ERUPTIONS or VESUVIUS. 57

in the interior of the mountain, twelve openings
were there formed with a fearful uproar, which
lasted a considerable time, and resembled a con-
tinual discharge of heavy artillery. From these
openings quantities of small red-hot stones were
ejected, accompanied by black smoke which rose
like a great pine, a shape very common in great
eruptions. Lava then flowed from them towards
the high road between Naples and Torre dell’
Amiunziata. On the 23d, in the evening, three
new openings were formed, and the lava next day
arrived at the road. On the 26th a new stream
took the direction of Bosco Tre Case, and. great
volumes of smoke ascended from the crater. On
the 28th a current of lava took its course towards
Torre del Greco, but it stopped on the 29th.
The progress of these streams was slow, and the
principal one did not reach the sea, though it ap-
proached to within twelve paces of it. The ejection
of smoke and stones from the crater did not stop
till the 7th January, 1761, when the noise, which
had continued till then, ceased and no smoke ap-
peared, either from the crater or from the openings
whence the lava had risen.

Over these openings three truncated conical
craters, which still exist, were thrown up, and now
bear the name of Vocoli or Viuli. The upper
edge of the smallest has a circumference of more

ERUPTIONS OK VESUVIUS.

than a hundred feet ; the interior cavity is forty
feet deep. Small trees and brushwood grow
within them, and the outsides of two of them are
planted with vines.

1766 A.D. The twenty-seventh eruption oc-
curred after four years of complete repose, the
white smoke which occasionally escaped from the
crater being the only sign that it had not become
extinct. On the 28th of March dense smoke
escaped from the mountain, burning stones were
ejected ; and the side of the cone, towards Resina,
burst open near the summit, considerably diminish-
ing its height on that side, and the lava flowed
down to the Atrio del Cavallo. On the 6th of April
the small interior cone could be seen from Naples,
and on the 10th the opposite, or s. e. side, was rent ;
and lava, issuing occasionally, ran towards the
Bosco d’Ottajano until the December following.

1767 A.D. The twenty-eighth eruption oc-
curred in March : the small cone in the interior of
the great crater was seen from Naples, above the
edge of the great one ; and at night large masses of
molten lava that were thrown out were plainly
discernible. During the summer, lava descended
from the inner cone and filled the bosom of the
greater one ; and from September until the 19th
of October the projection of stones became more
violent. On that day the noise was so loud as to

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

be distinctly heard at Naples; and the smoke rose in
dense masses, piled upon each other like heavy
thunder clouds, and hung over the gulf from
Casteir Amare to Ischia. Towards the close of
the day the mountain opened near the summit, on
the side towards Bosco Reale, and a torrent of
lava flowed down to the Pedementina, whence one
branch went towards Resina, the other to Ottajano.
The concussions from the explosions made the
windows in Naples rattle, and greatly frightened
the people ; but next day their terror was increased,
by the smoke becoming so thick, and falling so low,
that Vesuvius could not be seen. In the evening,
just as the shade of night began to add to the
obscurity caused by this mist of ashes, an awful
crash appalled even the bravest, for all were
ignorant from what it had proceeded. The follow-
ing morning it was discovered that the cone had
been split from the summit, to more than half way
down, and that lava had flowed out over the Atrio
and far into the vineyards near St. Jorio. On the
23d the volcano became more tranquil : on the
24th fine sand fell in Naples, and ashes near the
mountain ; but on the 27th it was once more
tranquil.

1771 A. D. On the first of May the twenty-
ninth eruption began, by a rumbling hoarse sound
in the interior of the mountain ; and, at mid-day,

()0 ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

the Java issued from a crack in the cone, about
two hundred feet below its summit. On the 9th
it again flowed from the same opening, but with
greater rapidity than before, in a winding course,
over the Atrio del Cavallo ; and, entering into the
cultivated parts, it did much damage.

1779 A. D. The thirtieth eruption occurred at
about seven in the evening, on the 8th of August.
An immense cloud of black smoke, loaded with
ashes, rose from the mountain, and showers of
ignited masses were thrown out on the flanks of
Vesuvius, in such quantities, that, at night, its
black form seemed as if studded with millions of
stars. Lava, also, ran from the summit of the cone
for a short distance, but ceased in a few days.

17S6 A.D. The thirty-first eruption began in
November, 1785, when several small craters broke
out on the side of the cone towards Somma. In
January, I7S6, the eruption greatly increased, and
the lava, issuing from a rent near the smaller crater,
flowed into the Fosso Vetrana, where, at the
commencement of the ravine, it fell over a per-
pendicular precipice, forming a beautiful cataract,
and proceeding thence, reached the little chapel of
the Madonna della Vetrana, forced a passage
through it, the side walls, which it left uninjured,
serving as sides to its extraordinary channel ; and

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

after running several hundred yards further down
the Fosso, it stopped.

1790 A. D. The thirty-second eruption hap-
pened in the month of September. A great quan-
tity of lava was moving about within the crater,
which it almost filled to the brim. For many
days, stones in great masses, and smoke, were
thrown out from a small crater in the interior.
Two streams of lava at last issued and took a
southerly direction, but, towards the end of Oc-
tober, the mountain became quiet.

1794 A.D. The thirty-third eruption was a
memorable one, and occurred on the 15th June.
For several days before it happened the water
disappeared from the wells in the neighbourhood
of the mountain ; and, in the evening of the 12th
at 10 o’clock, the shock of an earthquake, which
undulated from east to west, was felt in the
country around Naples. A second occurred at two,
and a third at eight, in the morning of the 1 3th. A
very smart shock took place in the evening of the
15th ; and immediately afterwards the mountain
burst open, about midway between the centre of
the Piano delle Ginestre and the base of the cone,
on the s. s. w. side, between Resina and Torre del
Greco. Lava in great quantities instantly boiled
out, with a noise like the discharge of heavy guns,
and rolled down the mountain in copious weaves,

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

with great velocity, towards Resina, but suddenly
turned and rushed upon Torre del Greco, over-
whelming four fifths of the town, and flowing 650
feet into the sea, having passed a distance of 6000
yards, in the short space of eight hours. On the 19th
a discharge of ashes, greater than had yet occurred,
took place ; a portion of the southern and western
edge of the crater having fallen in during the
preceding night, lowering the summit of the
mountain, in that part, about a ninth of its whole
height above the sea. Quantities of ashes fell in
Naples and the neighbourhood. On the 8th July
all appearance of eruption had ceased.

Breislak gives the following description of the
interior of the crater on the 12th July : — “ To the
eye the circumference appeared to be two miles,
but, when measured, it proved to be only one mile
and a quarter. The part towards the n. e. was
the highest and the s. w. the lowest, so that the
cone appeared truncated by a section inclining to
that side : the form of the circumference was an
ellipsis slightly eccentric, so that it might be con-
sidered almost as circular. The edge was not
even, and did not decline uniformly, on the one
side, from n. e. to s. w., nor rise equally, on the
other, from s. w.to n. e., but formed alternate risings
and hollows, the deepest of them lying on the
south, which was, therefore, the lowest part of the

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

edge of the crater. The height of the cone was
740 feet, and the depth of the abyss of the crater
500. The sides of the crater had a rapid declivity,
those of the northern or highest point being almost
perpendicular. The bottom was a sort of plain or
valley, running east and west, as the northern and
southern sides of the crater narrowed it, by jutting
corners or abutments.”

1804 A.D. The thirty- fourth eruption took
place on the 12th of August, unaccompanied by
earthquakes. Smoke and lava were thrown out
from the crater, but without any noise. The
latter, however, flowed from the summit, down
towards the convent of the Camaldoli, and laid
waste a great extent of country.

1805 A.D. The thirty-fifth eruption was of
short duration, but the interior crater continued to
cast out ashes and smoke throughout the year.
The lava issued from the s. e. summit, and flowed
towards Torre del Greco, threatening devastation,
similar to that of 1794, but stopped within a short
distance of the palace of the Cardinal, on the
eastern side of the town.

1806 A.D. On the 3 1st of May, about seven
in the evening, the thirty-sixth eruption began ;
and a great deal of tire was seen to issue from the
mouth of the small crater, with dense smoke, and
a jet of large masses of melted matter. The lava

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

then began to flow from the summit, following the
course of former streams, towards the convent of
the Camaldoli and Torre del Greco. Lapillo
fell, in considerable quantities, at Ottajano, and
ashes at Nola. On the 5th, 6th, and 7th of June,
showers of ashes were thrown out towards the sea,
and after this the eruption ceased.

1810 A.D. The thirty-seventh eruption oc-
curred on the 11th of September, when tremendous
noises burst from the mountain, and lava and ashes
were shot from its summit. On the 12th the
noises increased, as also the ejection of ashes. On
the 13th the lava, from several openings near the
summit, took a direction towards Bosco Tre Case,
Ottajano, and Resina ; but though this lasted for
some days, very little injury was done to the cul-
tivated lands.

1811 A.D. The thirty-eighth eruption was
announced on the night of the 28th of December*
by the shock of an earthquake; and on the 31st
smoke rose from the cone, accompanied by the
usual subterranean noises. On the 1st of January,
1812, a pyramid of fire and a column of smoke
shot up high in the air ; and, at four in the morning,
the lava flowed from the summit and divided itself
into two streams. One soon stopped, but the other
continued to go on towards Torre del Greco, over
the old lava, creating great alarm in the town.

ERUPTIONS OP VESUVIUS.

At noon it arrived within two miles of the palace
of the Cardinal, having run three miles in eight
hours. On the 2d, 3d, and 4th, new lava flowed
out over that of the 1st, but soon stopped, and this
eruption terminated.

1813 A. D. On the evening of the 24th of
December, a slight earthquake occurred ; and, the
next day, the thirty-ninth eruption commenced.
The mountain threw out liquid lava, with a loud
crackling sound, from the summit, and from new
openings near it. The ashes, lapillo, and smoke
ascended in the form of a pine, to an immense
height ; and the sun, seen through it, appeared
like the moon behind flitting clouds, during a
stormy night. Ashes and pumice fell, on the
western side of the mountain, to a considerable
distance, doing much injury to the young crops,
and to the shoots of the vines.

1817 A.D. The fortieth eruption began on
the 22d December, and terminated on the 2bth
of the same month. From 1813, small eruptions
within the crater, extending sometimes to the out-
side, frequently occurred, and at length formed
two small cones on the bed of lava, within the
great cone. Both of these fell in on the 22d, and
the lava burst from the summit, one current run-
ning towards Mauro, and another going on to the
Pedementina. The current that took the direction

06 ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

of Mauro broke out from a new opening half way
up the north side of the cone. It ran down the
slope, and spread out into a sort of lake, at the
eastern base of Somma, and thence descended into
the woods of Ottajano, close to the palace of the
Prince, and to within a few feet of the road which
leads from Bosco Tre Case to the town of Otta-
jano ; the other stream, issuing on the south side,
also spread out on the Pedementina, and seemed to
menace Torre del Greco ; but, afterwards, it
turned away more to the west, in a line with the
palace of the Favorita, which stands at a short
distance from Resina.

1820 A.D. The forty-first eruption com-
menced in the middle of the year 1820, and lava
flowed slowly and in a small quantity from the
southern side of the great cone, a little above the
Pedementina. Six mouths also opened in the
north-west side, and six cones were formed over
them, in a direct line along the base of the great
cone. From these lava was detruded towards the
Fosso Vetrana : it passed over that of 1786, stop-
ping in the ravine, at a few hundred yards below
the ruins of the chapel. During the months of
October and November, lava appeared in the great
crater, and red hot masses were projected from
two small cones which had risen, the largest to a

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS. (>7

greater height than the point of the Palo, and
about 450 feet above the Java around it.

In January, 1822, another small cone rose on the
Atrio del Cavallo, near the former six, which threw
out much scoria. On the 22d February a shock
of an earthquake was felt near the mountain, and,
soon after, a torrent of lava issued from the western
side of the summit of the crater, and flowed down,
in two streams, on the Atrio del Cavallo : they
there united and ran towards the Punta della
Croce, on the Canteroni ; thence made a turn and
flowed towards Resina, over the lava of 1810. On
the evening of the 23d, the column of smoke
became magnificent, and a quantity of scoria was
thrown out from the small crater. This activity
continued on the 24th and 26th, the lava appear-
ing on the south-west summit of the crater, and de-
scending in six streams, all uniting on the Atrio
del Cavallo. There were also showers of ashes
and sand, the latter of which fell in Naples. On
the 28th the lava stopped, after having crossed the
road leading to the Hermitage.

1822 A.D. The forty-second eruption oc-
curred in the month of October. During the early
part of the month, the immense quantity of scoria,
thrown out by the small crater, raised the level of
the internal plain very nearly to the edge of the
great cone. On the evening of the 20th slight

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

shocks of earthquakes were felt for some distance
around the mountain, and thick dark smoke rose
from the great crater. On the 21st, about three
p. m., the lava suddenly boiled over the edge of
the crater, and ran down in twTo streams towards
Resina and the Canteroni, but without passing
over the Atrio. At midnight immense columns of
smoke and fire rose from the crater, to the height
of 2000 feet, while sand, as well as melted lava,
were thrown far out on the exterior of Vesuvius.
Showers of hot ashes and scoria, which fell upon
Bosco Tre Case and Ottajano, created great alarm,
and drove the people from their houses. The part
of the crater opposite Torre del Greco continued
in great activity during the morning, and new
streams of lava flowed down the western and
southern flanks of the cone. It was remarked
that when the lava ceased to flow for a short time,
the projection of smoke and melted matter greatly
increased ; but decreased and became more steady
when the lava began to flow again. About mid-
day a column of smoke rose to an enormous height,
spreading out like an umbrella, over the mountain
and its neighbourhood. At two o’clock flashes of
lightning were observed between the cone of
Vesuvius and the convent of the Camaldoli, dart-
ing through the smoke and far along the sky above
it. The lava flowed into the Fosso Grande, and

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

over the Piano delle Ginestre towards Resina,
occupying more than half the space between the
Fosso Bianco and Fosso Grande, and threatening
to destroy Portici ; but, having approached to
within a mile and a half of the church of Resina,
it began to cool, and, soon after, it ceased to flow.

In the mean time the eastern side of the moun-
tain became more active ; lava flowed down in
three currents towards Bosco Tre Case and the
Viuli : the third stream passed over that of 1810.
During the night the scene was very extraordinary
and beautiful, from the constant showers of melted
lava thrown to an immense height, and the electric
fire playing magnificently in the midst of the illu-
minated smoke. On the 23d the ejection of melted
matter continued, but with less force, and the
streams on the eastern side had ceased to move,
except the one that ran towards Mauro ; this,
however, continued flowing during the day, and
reached the Piscinella, near the palace of the
Prince of Ottajano. On the 24th showers of sand
were thrown out, darkening the air so much, that,
in some places, people were obliged to light their
lamps. The mountain was completely enveloped
in dense clouds of vapour and smoke ; and on the
27th, torrents of water, washing down sand and
ashes, inundated the country about Massa and
St. Sebastiano, doing much injury, and creating

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

great terror among the inhabitants. The eruption
then ceased, and the mountain resumed a state of
tranquillity.

The summit of the crater was much changed by
the eruption, having lost several hundred feet of
its height, on the side towards Torre del Greco,
the northern side remaining in nearly its former
state ; so that the crater appeared as though cut
obliquely from north to south. The Pedementina,
at the western and southern side of the cone, had
been raised above two hundred feet by new lava,
the material ejected from the cone, and ashes
washed down by the rains.

The Canale dell’ Arena, however, on the northern
side of the cone, was only very slightly raised by
the scoria ejected from the crater and the ashes
brought down, no lava having flowed in that di-
rection.

The depth of the cavity of the crater was above
eight hundred feet, and its form was that of an
irregular ellipsis, its greater axis lying from s. w.
to n. e. The ridges of its edge sloping from its
summit, inwardly towards each other, were very
nearly united at the bottom, leaving only a small
circular plain, covered with large masses of scoria.

1831 A. D. The forty-third eruption. In
March, 1827, a small cone, formed on the plain at
the bottom of the gulf towards the n. e. side,

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

began to eject scoria and lava, throwing them up
nearly one third of’ the height of the main crater.
This small cone continued in a state of constant
activity until the November following, when the
ejection of scoria became occasional only. This
process went on during 1828 and 1829, sometimes
with greater, at others with less force ; and the
level of the lava was raised, on the s. w. side, to
within 120, and on the s. e. side to within eighty
feet of the edge, being very nearly even, intersected,
however, by two large crevices ; but the ejection
of matter from the cone was seldom so violent as
to prevent persons from climbing to its summit.

In May, 1880, the small cone was 150 feet above
the level of the lava : it had a circular crater thirty
feet deep, shaped like a basin, and at night the
molten scoria was often visible on its surface. A
bright blue flame sometimes suddenly appeared,
and spread out several feet at the bottom of the
crater, lasting for a few seconds, during which the
scoria and loose stones, occupying a space of six
or eight feet in circumference, rolled about, as if
stirred round by some force from below : the flame
was soon extinguished, and, at the same instant,
the part that had been in motion was shot up high
into the air, with a whizzing noise : most of it fell
back to the spot whence it had been thrown, and
the rest fell about on the sides of the small cone,

f 4

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

or was carried by the wind on to the lava around
it, sometimes even to the edge of the great crater.
In November the ejection of scoria became violent,
and streams of molten matter flowed from the base
of the small cone, by which the inclination of the
lava and the appearance of the inside of the crater
were greatly altered ; for on the s. w. side it was
raised to within fifty feet, and on the s. e. side to
within thirty feet of the edge. The small cone
was also much increased in height, and, though at
first circular, had become oblong : the greater axis
was north and south, nearly at right angles with
that of the main crater ; on the south of it, five
minor cones had risen, covered with various shades
of yellow, blue, and green ; all threw out scoria in
a state of fusion, accompanied by a dense yellowish
white vapour, which rushed out with a noise like
that of steam escaping from the safety pipe of a
boiler. Although the surface of the lava had
cooled and become black, yet, a few inches be-
neath, it was red hot, and a stick pushed into any

crevice took fire.

By the middle of January, 1831, it had become
cool, and only three of the smaller cones remained
in activity : they and the greater one continued
occasionally to eject melted matter during the
summer, until the 14th August. About ten o’clock
in the morning of that day a slight shock of an

ERUPTIONS OP VESUVIUS.

earthquake was felt in Resina and the neighbour-
ing* towns, and a large heavy column of sable
smoke rose from the crater. On the 15th a con-
siderable emission of lava proceeded from the base
of the small cone and ran towards the s. w. edge
of the crater, in a winding course, while several
smaller streams flowed about in all directions,
within the crater. On the 18th a wide river of
lava, in a state of extraordinary liquidity, issued
from the small cone, covering up inequalities, and
raising the whole level, on the western side, to
within fifteen feet of the edge ; the small cone also
was very active, throwing stones of a large size
hundreds of feet into the air. Large crevices were
formed in several directions across the lava ; and
in the night of the 22d four new cones rose near
the six already mentioned. Nearly the whole mass
of lava within the crater seemed to be almost in a
state of fusion ; the number of brilliant spots where
it was completely melted making it appear like an
illuminated city. The crater was now full on the
western side, the lava threatening to flow over the
path on the outside of the cone ; but on the s. e.
side it still wanted four feet of being even with
the edge. The level of the lava was, however,
irregular, rising several feet higher on the western
side of the small cones than on the other, and
descending in terraces or tables, a few feet in

74 ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

thickness, towards the edge of the crater. Be-
tween the eastern side of the cones and the edge
of the crater it formed a regular concave surface,
the deepest point being about twenty feet below
the level of the edge. Two mouths had opened
in the small oblong cone, both throwing out stones
and smoke, sometimes white, sometimes loaded
with sand and dust; but these ejections did not
take place with regular alternations from each
mouth ; one sometimes threw out stones, while
the other emitted only vapour ; then they changed
for a few moments, and then threw out stones
together ; and again, when the principal cone was
ejecting scoria, one or two of the smaller cones
nearest it ceased to emit vapour with their ordinary
force and peculiar noise, but recommenced as
soon as the jet from the greater cone had been
effected.

This eruption of matter continued until the 18th
of September, when the lava, which had two days
before risen, in some parts, to a height of fifteen
feet above the s.e. edge of the crater, began to
flow over on that side, and having run down six-
teen feet, in a stream fourteen feet wide, it cooled.
The same day, about two o’clock, another stream
to the north of this one reached the edge and
flowed over.

The appearance of the interior of the crater was

ERUPTIONS 01- VESUVIUS.

7-5

slightly changed : the fissures had been widened,
and formed a curve from n.n.e. to w.n.w. round
the outside of the small craters, one of which, ex-
cepting only its northern side, had fallen to pieces.
Its remains exhibited a front of perfect columnar
basaltic lava twenty feet high: the part which had
fallen was a heap of cubic masses of lava and scoria,
tinged with beautiful shades of green. The whole
space enclosed by these fissures was one ground of
bright yellow, with occasional patches and streaks
of red.

On the 20th it was observed that the lava had
flowed two hundred feet down the s.e. exterior of
the great cone, and, continuing to run with rapi-
dity, it took the direction of JBosco Reale. On
the 27th it ceased to flow in the same course, but
divided on the Pedementina, and, winding round
the base of the cone towards the west, swept on-
wards to the Vocoli, or craters of the eruption of
17bO, over a stream emitted in 1822; but it stopped
within half a mile of them on the evening of the
30th. The stream then resumed its original direc-
tion, and, during the early part of October, flowed
steadily and slowly onward till it reached the edge
of the Pedementina. On the evening of the 20th
the eruption attained its climax; the column of fire,
which rose from the crater, was immense and
very splendid ; and the lava bursting out from the

?6 ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

north side of the small cone ran towards the
western edge of the great crater, which it soon
reached, and, enveloping the large stone that stood
at the point where the path, which leads up the
side of the cone, arrives at the top, flowed over,
about forty feet to the left of this spot ; and on the
21st it stopped, having run down in a stream 260
feet in length, and about twenty in breadth. Dur-
ing the night of the 22d the small cone underwent
a great alteration ; for the sides to the north and
south being blown away, it there lost more than
half its height, while on the west and east it received
so great an accumulation that it became visible at
Naples, its western side being the highest. Within
its edge there were, on the 28th of October, five
mouths of greater or less depth, varying from
twenty to sixty feet, from one of which only a
white vapour, impregnated with muriatic or sul-
phuric acid, was emitted: the north side appeared
one mass of solid lava, the other was covered with
scoria, ashes, and dust. The whole crater of the
great cone then became tranquil.

A few slight explosions, from the small cone,
occurred during November and the early part of
December, and changes continually took place in
the surface of the plain of the great crater : cre-
vices were opened on one day, and closed again
the next : platforms were, in one place, raised, in

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

another depressed ; and the small cones were, by
degrees, broken down : all indicating that some vio-
lent operation was actively, though silently, going
forward within the depths of the volcano.

On the 20th of December a column of smoke,
accompanied by frequent showers of stones, rose
from the small cone ; and a stream of lava flowed from
its south-eastern side, in the direction of that point
which is above Torre del Greco, and afterwards
followed the curve of the crater. On the 22d the
volume of smoke and the jet of stones increased,
and the fissure around that great platform, already
described as being raised above the level of the
lava to the south of the small cone, widened so as to
become impassable, except at one point ; making it
a peninsula, which presented a perpendicular front
fifteen feet above the outer edge of the crevice. The
opening on the exterior of the small cone had been
choked up ; but the three interior vents threw out
molten lava in large, shapeless masses, or in broad
lumps, of the size, and moulded into the form, of
turkey’s eggs. These were driven out with a whiz-
zing noise or loud report ; and the effect produced
by the red hot matter at the moment of expulsion
resembled that of the bursting of a shell, or the
discharge from a large mortar when fired.

Lava had also issued from the n.e. side of the
small cone, and had wound slowly round its base,

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

towards the spot, at the western edge of the crater,
where the stream flowed out in October. Five
small fumaroli, close together, in a line with each
other, and rising three feet above the middle of
this stream, shot out pieces of lava, of the size of
small cannon balls, about five feet into the air,
with a report like that of a pistol.

On Christmas day, between ten and eleven a.m.,

the lava from the s.e. side of the cone arrived at
the edge of the crater, where the great stone stood,
and ran rapidly down over the path by which,
previously, it was customary to ascend. At two
o’clock it was half way down the cone, and, as
observed at night from Naples, produced a beauti-
ful effect. The vapour from the lava, and the
smoke from the cone, becoming heavy, sank down
upon, and enveloped the burning torrent, hiding
it from view ; then, suddenly blown away, it would
disclose the fiery streak, which seemed, from the
darkness that reigned around it, to shoot up into
the air, as if it were some enormous rocket.

Half way down, the mass turned towards Resina,
leaving the path, and running with great rapidity
to the foot of the cone, where it arrived before
midnight. On the 26th of December, at noon, it
had flowed twelve hundred feet from the base of
the cone, making altogether a distance of 3600
feet in twenty-six hours. At that time it was

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

advancing at the rate of ten feet an hour, in three
streams, having a front of 280 feet, over the old
lavas of I7C7, 1775, 1810, and 1822. At two o’clock
the stream from the northern side reached the
edge of the crater, flowed over the lava of October
down a third of the cone, and there joined the
other current.

During the night of the 27th it rained heavily
at Naples; and next morning the upper part of
Vesuvius was seen to be covered with snow, the
hot stream being marked out by the black line
which extended from the top to the bottom of the
cone.

In the mean time the small cone became com-
paratively tranquil, seldom throwing out any lava,
though it still emitted smoke. On the first day of
the year the explosions from it recommenced with
great violence, and much scoria was ejected. The
lava continued to flow slowly, at the upper end,
and did not entirely stop till the 12th, though the
lower extremity ceased to advance on the 10th of
January ; the stream being then 7<500 feet long,
and 280 feet wide. The lava was still warm on
the 28th : a thermometer placed on the slope of
the new bed rose to 106 Fall. ; and scoria, taken a
few inches from below the surface, was too hot to
be held in the hand. On the same morning that
the lower part of the stream stopped, the cone

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

became perfectly quiet, and remained so till the
18th of February, when numerous and violent
shocks, accompanied by a noise like the roaring
of the sea during a storm, were felt on the moun-
tain, and they were renewed sew. .1 times on the
following night. The same evening two circular
apertures, forty feet in circumference, and as many
deep, opened within the small cone nearly in the
same place where those of last December existed ;
and from them was thrown up a column of white
smoke, red hot scoria, and ashes : these latter,
carried by the wind, spread over the flank of the
old cone in the direction of the Piano del Ginestre.
The smoke, strongly charged with sulphur and
marine salt, beating against the southern wall of
the crater, deposited them, covering the whole with
a cake of a yellow and a white colour intermixed.
The vapour which rose from all parts of the crater
was so strongly charged with acids that it was
impossible to breathe in it for more than a few
seconds.

A stream of lava broke out on the 20th from
that part of the crater on which the small cones
rose in August last, and, extending over the south-
ern portion of the plain, covered the old lava,
filling up the inequalities and making a perfectly
level surface. Near the point whence the lava
issued, twenty feet from the remains of the small

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

cones, liquid lava bubbled lip like bitumen in cir-
cular waves, in the same manner as in some orna-
mental fountains, the water, playing from a centre,
curls and rolls down over fanciful masonry : when
they had cooled * .1 become hard, they resembled
a coil of the thickest cable.

An earthquake, having an oscillation from south
to north, and accompanied by a crackling sound,
which resembled the rumbling of carriages over a
rough, uneven pavement, was felt at Pozzuoli and
the surrounding district, at one o’clock in the
afternoon of the 21st, and though slight at that
town, was considerable in other places, particularly
at Monte St. Angelo, throwing down some walls,
and doing much inj ury to several cottages. About
the same time, the stream of lava received a great
augmentation and stimulus, so that it passed out
from the great crater, at the spot where the other
lava had last issued, and ran down its southern
edge, arriving before morning, at the base of the
cone. Owing to the steepness of that part of the
cone on which it flowed, little scoria formed upon
its surface, so that it had a beautiful effect, the
bright streak of fire, sparkling in the darkness like
a meteor ; and sometimes, when a fresh and sudden
impulse was given to the current, a billow', more
luminous and brilliant than the rest of the fiery
mass, and darting forward in long rapid flights, slid

8 2

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

or shot down the stream. The small cone con-
tinued to eject red-hot matter and a quantity of
thick smoke, which hanging over the mountain in
large round volumes heaped one above the other,
looked like an immense cauliflower during the day,
and at night, illuminated by reflection from the
burning lava, presented a singular appearance, rich
in many changes of form and varieties of colour.

On the 25th a stream separating within the cra-
ter from the one which had been flowing for some
days, advanced to the edge in two branches and
ran over ; one of these stopped, after proceeding
half way down the cone, but the other moved
rapidly towards the base in the direction of the
Punta delle Crocelle on the Canteroni. During
the 26th and 27th the projection of matter from the
small cone and the emission of lava continued
without cessation, and on the evening of the latter
day, the stream which ran towards the Canteroni,
rolled down the cone with great rapidity, covering
the stones at which it was customary to leave the
mules ; its width and height making it a magnifi-
cent object, which, together with the original
stream flowing in the contrary direction, produced
a very splendid effect. This new stream continued
to flow for a few days gradually decreasing in force,
and on the 22d it entirely stopped. The stream
which came over the edge on the 21st ran slowly

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

down till the 5th, when it ceased to How ; on the
7th, however, another issued to the north of the
rest, but only flowed two days.

On the evening of Thursday the 8th, at fourteen
minutes past seven o’clock, an earthquake was
felt at Naples, and a second shock succeeded at
two o’clock the following morning ; both had an
oscillation proceeding from south to north, but
were slight, unattended by any subterranean
sounds, and did no damage in the city, or in its
environs. The weather had been stormy through-
out the day, and towards night the wind blew with
great violence from the south, often breaking into
sudden and tremendous gusts. The shocks were
not confined to the bay of Naples, they extended
through part of Calabria, and the beautiful town
of Catanzaro, its capital, built on a hill eight miles
distant from the sea, was laid in ruins by the first
convulsion, nearly at the same hour at which its
shock was felt at Naples, but the particulars of this
catastrophe have not yet been received. It is
not the first time that this city has suffered from
similar visitations ; in 1626 it was nearly destroyed,
and in the great earthquake of 1783, a considerable
part was thrown down and otherwise injured.

The Volcano, however, remained in a tranquil
state ; but a constant emission of smoke and of
melted scoria has continued to take place. The

g 2

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS.

mass of vapour ejected sometimes settles like mist
on the top of the cone, sometimes rises aloft like a
pyramid, or in a funnel-shaped form, and often,
blown away by the strong northerly breezes pre-
vailing at this season of the year, stretches across
the sky in thin straggling layers, or in a dark line,
which lengthens out, and is confounded with the
horizon.

INSCRIPTION AT PORTICI.*

“ Posterity, posterity, this is your concern ;
one day enlightens the next, that next
improves the third.

Be attentive.

Twenty times, since the creation of the sun
has Vesuvius blazed, never without a horrid
destruction of those that hesitated to fly.
This is a warning, that it may never
seize you unapprized.

The womb of this mountain is pregnant with
bitumen, alum, iron, gold, silver, nitre,
and fountains of water.

Sooner or later it kindles, and when the sea
rushes in, will give its birth vent.

But before its labours come on it is shaken,
and shakes the earth round it : smokes, gleams,
throws up bickering flames, shakes the air,
roars horridly, bellows, thunders, drives the
inhabitants from its quarters.

Retire whilst you may.

Now, now its throws come on, it bursts out,
it flings up lakes mixed with fire ;
down, down it rushes and precipitate
Prevents your tardy flight, and stamps your fate :
if it once surprises you, all is over.

If you are wise, hear this speaking stone.
Neglect your domestic concerns, neglect your
goods, and chattels, there is no delaying.

Fly.”

* In Latin, translated by the Earl of Orrery, 1751.

HEIGHT OF VESUVIUS,

1749 A.D. . .

3415 English feet

536 toises

Abbe Nollet.

1773

3892

609

Saussure.

1794

3872

606

Poli.

3917 * * * §

613

Breislak.

1805

3872

606

Gay Lussac.

1810

4076 f

638

Brioski.

1816

3974 %

1822 Nov.

622

Visconti.

Hermitage

1853

290

Monticelli.

Atrio del Cavallo

2453 §

384

—

Edge towards Resina. .

3415

536

—

Torre del Greco.

3533

553

—

dell’ Annunziata.

3559

557

—

— Bosco Tre Case....

3393

531

—

— Ottajano

3649

571

—

Palo

3885

608

—

Palo in Dec. 1822 3853 603

Edge towards Bosco

Reale 3373 528,

The Punta del Vitello,
the highest point of
the Somma 3688 ||

* After the eruption.

+ The Palo.

| Trigonometrically.

§ November.

II The Monte Somma, beginning from the Canteroni near the Hermitage,
and ending at the lowest point above Mauro, forms a semicircle, of which the
radius is a mile ; and the centre of its circle falls in the centre of the present
crater, the diameter of which is one half of a mile. — Visconti.

APPENDIX.

Since the preceding sketches of Vesuvius were printed,
two eruptions have made a material change, not only
within the great crater, but also on the exterior of the
cone at that part where it was usual to ascend.

In the first eruption, which commenced on Christmas
Day, the lava flowing over the great stone at the upper
end of the path, descended from this point and spread into
several long and narrow ridges of scoria, each having a
hollow in the middle that served as a channel through
which the molten lava ran; and when it had ceased to flow,
they resembled the dried up beds of mountain rivulets.
These ridges cover the old path as far as half way down
the cone, and there uniting into one large mass or principal
stream, turn off to the right, and continue down the slope
to the Atrio. This ledge, from the accumulation and con-
tinual piling up of the scoria, forms a lofty bank, having
less inclination than the slope of the cone, and looks like
an embankment made to carry a canal or road over a
valley. Thus far there were three courses for the lava,
but on arriving at the Atrio, they divided into several
others, forming a wide flat mound, and proceeded towards
Resina, in a line parallel with the Canteroni. In the
annexed sketch I have attempted to give an idea of the
appearance which the front of the bank has, while pushed

APPENDIX.

forward by the fluid material within it. Near the bottom,
masses of soft lava are twisted and squeezed out from
under the incumbent matter like dough from the kneading-
trough ; higher up, lumps of scoria, red-hot, but no longer
soft, detach themselves, and roll down; smaller pieces
crumbling away from the top pour down over the rest,
so that the front is not perpendicular, but has a slight
inclination.

A path has been made along the northern edge of the
new lava, but it is much more rough, steep and difficult
than the old one. On reaching the top, three hundred
feet to the left of the point, where the ascent formerly ter-
minated, the recent matter is found piled up in large slabs
and irregular pieces, which were raised higher than the
edge of the crater ; indeed, the whole of it in this part of
the interior, rose with a considerable inclination towards
the small cone and towards the insulated platform, which
was nearly enveloped by the surrounding lava. The minor
craters or fumaroli had become nearly confounded with
the rest, and their remains, as also the whole of the plat-
form, were covered with a coating of sulphur.

The base of the small cone had greatly increased in
circumference ; within it were two craters, the first a large
one forming a segment of a circle, the curve sloping
towards the bottom, which was eighty feet deep, and only
a few feet in width ; the diameter of this segment was a
perpendicular line of compact lava, of which the whole
western side of the cone was formed. A second orifice
was a smaller but similar segment, and was only thirty
feet deep. Three cracks extended across a narrow level
space between these mouths and the eastern side, which
was much lower than its opposite ; it was round at the top,
and sloped with a rapid declivity to the plain of lava.
From these cracks escaped an almost invisible vapour

APPENDIX.

highly charged with acid, and at their edges various salts
were sublimed in efflorescences of beautiful colours. On
the north the exterior was excessively steep, but on the
south it sloped gradually down to the remains of the plat-
form, which still presented an upright front towards the
east and south, but the fissure was nearly filled with scoria
ejected from the cone. The part of the great crater be-
tween this and its eastern edge, was the same as it was in
October, but so great a quantity of marine salt had eva-
porated through its crevices, that some people from Torre
del Greco had collected several sacks of it.

Within the crater, at a short distance from the point
where the lava passed over its edge, several large oblong
slabs of lava were joined together in a convex form ; or
rather, their sides, inclining towards each other, supported
a central and horizontal table ; the fourth side was split in
two, and through the crack the stream rushed, as if from
under a ruined arch.

The lava, which ran from the western side of the cone,
at the end of last month, has also made an alteration in
the appearance of its exterior. The first stream which
issued on the 21st, after having flowed in a straight line
half way down the cone, at a few yards to the south of the
streams of last January, united with them, connecting the
extremities of the curve which they formed. The stream
which came over on the 25th, to the north of the others,
flowed down towards the spot where it was customary to
commence the ascent on foot, and destroyed the lower part
of the path, hitherto untouched by any of the streams. Of
the two which ran down on the 27th, one flowed in the
channel and took the course of the last, completely covered
the path, buried the large blocks at the place where the
mules used to be left, and then passed two hundred feet
lower down : the second, to the north of the other, ad-

APPENDIX.

vanced about the same distance from the base of the cone
toward the Fosso Vetrana, and then divided into two
branches, one of which ran towards the Punta delle Cro-
celle, the other towards the Somma, both extending more
than a hundred and fifty feet from the point of their separ-
ation, and forming a semicircular front of brown scoria,
varying from ten to fifteen feet in height, round the
northern extremity of which the present path for the mules
winds, and then follows the ridge formed by the stream, to
the base of the cone. The new footpath commences about
half way between the old one and the cones of 1820, lead-
ing, with very little deviation, up to the summit ; it is con-
sequently steep and very fatiguing, particularly at one
place where it passes for some distance through deep sand.
The interior of the crater towards this side again presents
a different aspect ; the plain is much raised, uneven, and
covered with hillocks of lava, piled against each other in
various angles, with misshapen lumps of scoria heaped up
between them, and the tabular mass is almost hidden by
different currents which flowed over and around it. Only
one stream remained running on the 7th of March, rising
up at the point, where the new path arrives at the edge,
and the compact material, in rolling away, was drawn out
into a stringy form, making a noise like that of wax when
melting. The height of the small cone was diminished on
its western side, but had increased on all the others from
the scoria ejected, and its circumference was, from the
same cause, greatly enlarged : snow lay thick on its exterior,
while clouds of smoke and heavy showers of red-hot matter
were thrown from its interior, and it may be supposed that
so strange a contrast gave it an interesting as well as a most
remarkable appearance.

The lava on the southern side of the crater, though also
raised, still remains level, and the platform there presents

Thf front of the stream of La.va. onthe Decrl&31

MO sni AYlRd,

appendix.

its perpendicular front of basaltic lava though, m %

parts, its disrupted masses slope on to the plan, of lava ,
the crevices around it are nearly filled up with the blocks
and the whole is covered by a deposition ol sulpha. , .

brilliant yellow colour. fountain, I

Near the place where the lava lose
discovered a beautiful and very singular archec gr ,
formed by a gigantic bubble of lava. The aici was com
;:;i; of a thin layer or cake of lava, from eight inches to
a foot in thickness, and the open part or mouth had
fallen in, but had been blown outwards; the e gcs
“ t, which remained standing, were covered with white,
m-een and light-blue encrustations. The width of ie
whole was twenty-four feet ; that of the opeimig, fourteen;
the depth from the margin to the level withm, five t
height of the arch from the internal level, fifteen ; and the

length inwards twenty-five feet.

The interior was coated with pure salt in minute crysta ,
thickly strewn with patches of bright green, and stalactites
of salt, of the same colour, hung from various parts. Tim
t tom of the interior was level, but curled and twisted
il numberless ripples, apparently caused by two ~
which flowed through it, one from the centre and the other
from the right side, both of which had united and made
dll. exit through the left; the whole was o a co our be-
tween a light red and ochre, which contrasted finely
foe brig'-t fmts of the roof. The heat with,,, ,t was so
intense, as to preclude the possibility ot descenc ing in o 1 ,
C there was no vapour to cloud its beauties, no noxiou
sir to drive one from its mouth, whence tins rare objc
could be examined, and its extraordinary features admire ,
without danger or annoyance.

the end.

Londons

Printed by A. & R. Spottisuoode,
N c\v- S tr cct- Srj uare ,

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Full text of "Sketches of Vesuvius, with short accounts of its principal eruptions. From the commencement of the Christian era to the present time"

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